Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Meet the teacher and a boo boo!

Last night Josh and I went to open house/meet the teacher at Wade's school. I am SO excited for him. He is going to LOVE his teachers and they are really really getting them prepared for real school. He is going to have 18 kids in his class just like he will next year. There are 10 girls and 8 boys. Josh was working really hard on getting Wade excited about this ratio :) He has two teachers that will be in there all 5 days. Then he has three floater teachers. One will be in there 3 days (M,W,F) one will be there 2 days (T, Th) and one will be with them on Fridays. Basically he will have 5 teachers and three will roatate. I am so excited about his Friday helper because she was his 2 year old teacher and we love love her! He was so happy when I told him Ms. Susan was going to be one of his teachers. His two main teachers are fantastic and I really don't know the other two floaters well but I am hoping they will be just as great. He is going M-F for 3 hours each day and he will take his lunch twice a week. This is different because the last two years he has had lunch every day. On the days he doesn't bring lunch they will have snack time instead. He will also have chapel and music just like last year but they add science for the 4 year olds. I know he will love going to science class. I am so thankful for RLP and I can't believe this is his last year of preschool. Oh and just because this never happens my sweet/wild boy is napping today and has been for almost 2 hours. This is RARE around here these days so I thought I should document it!!

My sweet baby fell today and had her first "big" accident. Now I should say I am so thankfully that our kids have never really had a major accident so to us a busted lip is pretty major. She fell off the lower part of the playground today when I was being "mom of the year and talking on the phone to our relator!" Talk about feeling horrible. I turned away for just a minute to grab my phone and she was playing on the lowest part where she always does and she lost her balance and fell off. Her little tooth went into her bottm lip but thankfully it didn't go threw it. It looks like she just bit into her bottom lip pretty bad. It bled forever and bless her heart she cried for a good little bit. Now let me tell you why this wild child was crying, after the first two minutes or so she was crying because I wouldn't put her down. Oh not because of the big gash in her lip or the blood pouring out, oh no.  She was crying and reaching to get down and go play. This girl is crazy! I couldn't let her get down or blood when have been all over the playground. Plus I was a nervous reck after that and felt so bad that I turned away from her. I am so thankful she was just on the bottom part and not up at the top near the slide when it happened. Needless to say I have learned my lesson and I won't walk away again for a long time :)

Our realtor is meeting with the couple who wants to buy our house again right now. I am hoping to hear from her any minute and hoping for some good news. Today is the first day in almost a week that we haven't had showings and it has been fantastic. I am ready to get this house sold so it can be messy again!!! Hoping to finally post some pictures of my sweet babies soon. I think I am in denial that they are growing up and I may always call them my "babies" even though I really have a preschooler and a toddler. However in about 3 months we will have a little baby in the family again. Ashley is doing good and Hayes will be here sometime around Thanksgiving. We can't wait to spoil him and send him home!! The funny part is he will probably sleep better than WK as a newborn. Oh well you win some and you loose some.

Monday, August 26, 2013

What we have been up to!

I can't believe it that we have actually stayed home the entire month of August. The last time we traveled was in July. We have had so much going on with our house stuff that we have really enjoyed not doing too much. We are heading to the beach this weekend for Labor Day. I seriously cannot believe it is almost September. I feel like Wade just got out of school and now he is getting ready to start next week. I am so not ready for Kindergarten. Preschool 5 mornings a week will be enough for me. I am really going to treasure this last year that I have him home with me-even if he drives me crazy some days!! I am sure it is hard for any mom to send their first baby to school but I think it is extra hard for me because he has been home everyday with me since he was born. Besides 3 hours in the morning here and there I have had him at home so I cannot imagine him not being here next year. Thankfully I LOVE the school that he is going to go to now and I know two of the kindergarten teachers and one of them just happens to be my sisters best friend. Her mom works in the office and helps with putting kids into classes so I am about 99.9% sure I already know who is teacher will be :) Tomorrow night Josh and I have a meet the teacher night at preschool and Wade goes for one hour with me on Friday morning. We are heading to the beach Friday evening and staying until Monday and he starts school on Tuesday. It is going to be a busy week. I am praying this house will sell before then because I am not sure if I can handle getting ready for school and picking up all before 9am.

We have had a ton of showings lately and we have one couple who is really interested in it. We are hoping that they will make an offer. They saw it today and I have seen them drive by again this afternoon to look at it. Hopefully we will get some good news soon on this house. Josh took our application in today for the new house. We have to have all the work approved because it it a Historic house and it is actually on the National Registry too. It was a little stressful at first but once they came out to the house and we explained everything we felt a lot better about it. They approved everything we wanted to do today except the screen front door that we picked out. They said it was too "Victorian" and we should try to find one that was more "classic!" Talk about picky picky!! But we will do as they say because well we have too :) It's funny because I feel like selling this house has been stressful but we probably haven't even gotten to the stressful part...renovating with small kids!! I just have to remember that it will be worth it when it is all done.

Wade said the funniest thing tonight and I want to remember it...he ran into my parents house and grabbed a couple of cookies. I said something to him about it because he had just had fruit snacks and he knew I wouldn't want him to have cookies also. He said "I am just a little boy and I didn't know any better!!" Pretty sure he had a huge smile on his little face too when he said this. He always keeps us laughing. Now that he isn't napping he always tells me at nap time "I am just too tired to rest" when I tell him that doesn't make sense he will say "yes it does mommy I am right-I am too tired to rest" then he will say "well what can I do then when I am laying there?" So needless to say we are working on this new stage of having quiet time daily. I am hoping once preschool starts next week he will be worn out and he will fall asleep some.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

18 Months Old- August 6th 2013

I can't believe our sweet girl turned 18 months old this month. Summer has just flown by and she is growing so fast. Thankfully she is still little and doesn't talk much or have a lot of hair so she really still seems like a baby to me. We are keeping this one "little" for as long as we can. Here is what she is up to at 1.5 years old.
-weighs 23lbs (40th percentile)
-height 31.5 inches (47th percentile)
-wears mostly 18-24 months clothes and size 4 diapers
-size 4 shoe
-eats three meals a day with a couple of snacks-does not eat much at meal time-she is SO picky
-loves fruit pouches and snack type food best
-takes one good nap a day-usually 2-3 hours
-still does NOT sleep great at night-goes to bed great at 8pm but usually ends up in our bed by 2am (here we go with keeping her a baby-we would have never let Wade do this!!) We will sleep train when we move :)
-LOVES dogs and animals
-loves books and loves to look at pictures of animals
-loves to be outside
-runs everywhere (her little chubby cheeks shake when she runs!!) these days and is SO busy-much busier than her brother (I am physically tired with her)
-does not sit and watch tv at all but will watch praise baby
-is so sweet and cuddly but can be stubborn and mean when she doesn't get her way
-has been known to hit, scratch and pinch her brother and then hug and kiss him a minute later
-does not like it when Wade cries and will rub his back and lay her head on him
-does great in the church nursery now and rarely cries when we drop her off
-has the biggest smile ever and lots of teeth-still waiting for her 4 I teeth but has all her others
-is so girly and always wears a bow but most days you can find her playing in the dirt or carrying a stick around
-has NO fear and scares me daily-she loves to climb to the highest part of the play ground and lean over the edge of it and laugh because she knows it makes me crazy
-she is clumsy and falls a lot
-waves to people all the time and we always know when she is ready to leave because she starts waving
-doesn't talk much in public but can say-mom, mama, dada, dad-ee, love you, pops, yes, pease, by-ee, uh oh, more, mi (mine), zach, ball, law mo er, ba-oon (balloon), bubble, bubba (brother), ade (wade), rock rock, night night
-loves to swim and loves bath time
-she knows a lot of her animal sounds and can point to her eyes, nose and mouth
-loves to rock in her rocking chairs and she will sing "rock rock" while doing it
-LOVES music so much-she sings or hums all the time-I have got to sign her up for a music class this fall
-goes to sleep at night listening to her music and sings and dances all the time in the car
- makes this silly face now where she scrunches her nose up and sniffs 4-5 times- she does this when she is mad or wants something
-she puts her little hand up to her ear and lays her head down on it when she is ready to go "night night"
-loves blowing kisses to everyone
-everytime we are at my parents she will look at me and say "byeee" and wave-meaning she wants me to leave- haha!!


Westin Kate,
I can't belive you are one and a half. You are still our sweet baby girl and we love you. You are a WILD woman and you make us laugh all the time. I have to say you have the funniest little personality just like your big brother did at this age. You are so silly and so sweet and oh so stubborn. You always know just what you want and you have just started this screaming (loudly) thing when you aren't getting your way. You also will arch your back and lay in the floor when you are mad. We just think you are the cutest thing ever and you keep us on our toes all day long. We love you so much and love this crazy fun age.

House part 1...

Another month has gone by and I am finally getting around to blogging again. This past month has been CRAZY for our family. I have so much to catch up on. Part of this blogging break has been my computer issues but Josh bought me a new laptop and once we get it all set up hopefully the problem will be solved. Of course we won't tell anyone that he bought it in June and it has been sitting in its box since then. I need him to set it all up for me but that involves calling At&t because our wireless is acting up and we just haven't had a spare 2 hours to sit and talk to them on the phone. Tonight I am working and thankfully have a few minutes to catch up from my work computer.

I have been taking pictures here and there of the kids and I will have a few picture post to catch up on once I get my new computer up and running. I don't even know where to start about our house stuff that has been going on. Somehow Josh and I decided that if we were going to move this would be the year to do it. Now when we moved into this house we planned to stay 5-10 years...I guess God showed us that he had other plans. I had been praying about moving here and there and we just randomly would search houses and go see a few here and there. We knew we wanted two things-a house we could stay in a LONG time and more land. We also knew that this next move was going to be it because we didn't want to move the kids once they started school and Wade starts next year. So we played around with the idea but did not put our house on the market. We actually made an offer on a couple of houses but those did not work out. The one house that we loved at first was just too expensive for all the work it needed. They ended up calling us back and telling us a mont later that they would accept our offer but once we went back and looked at it again we decided to wait.

Somehow I got it in my brain that it was a great idea to try to find a house near downtown Apex. We LOVE downtown and I just thought "why not try" so I randomly called a few people in town that I knew and asked them if they wanted to sell or knew anyone that was thinking about selling. The thing about these historic houses is you have to catch them before they go on the market because it is a biding war once that happens. Well a few weeks went by and nothing really came up. We went and looked at 2 but they just didn't work for us. Randomly I called the owners of my old house and asked if they were planning on selling anytime-they had mentioned moving before to my parents. They said they weren't right now but that I should call "Miss Ann" who used to live two door down from us. They said that they were both not doing well and just couldn't keep up their big house. So I randomly looked up their number in the phone book and called her one afternoon. I told her who I was and where I grew up and that Josh and I LOVED their house. I asked her if they ever decided to sell would they let us know. Well God must have worked this one out because we talked for an hour and they had just been talking about selling. It is too big and too much work for them. I almost died....we walk/drive by this house almost daily and we both love it. I could not even believe this was happening. Ann has a very rare disease and cannot walk anymore and her husband Ron is not in good health either. It took a few days for them to talk about everything-he later told me "their heads were spinning" when all this happened. I don't think either one of us every saw this coming. They also told us that God planned this at the perfect time. Close to a week later they had us come over and see the inside of the house and we signed a contract that day-July 28th, 2013. We had seen the outside and talked to Mr. Ron about a price but we had to wait a couple of days until Ann was feeling better to get inside.

I would have probably signed a contract without even seeing the inside but of course we waited until we got to go inside. We LOVE this house it is really our dream house and I cannot imagine that we will ever move. It is on .84 acres and has a garage and 3 barns/sheds on the property. It was built in 1900 and is about as close as you can get to downtown Apex. I will get to walk Wade and WK to school and we can walk downtown and get dinner. I have to keep all these positive thoughts in my mind because it is going to take a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make this our dream home. One day though it will be all worth it.

House Part 2...

Now to say this has been an easy task would be an understatement. It started out fairly smoothly but quickly changed. We quickly learned that this sweet couple is pitiful and needs someone to help them. They have two adopted sons-one they speak to often one they don't talk to at all (that's an entire post in itself.) They really have some finiacial issues and actually we are helping them by buying the house because they just can't afford it anymore. We did not tell anyone about this house except our parents until we had a signed contract that was delievered to the attorney's office. We knew this type of house/location would have caused a huge biding war and we really wanted to get it. This has proven true-since people have found out about us getting the house we have already heard all types of stuff like..."we stole it away from other couples that wanted it" So not true, or better yet "my dad was the only reason we got it" Not true again I randomly called this woman and she has told us we are the first family to ever ask about buying it. We have also heard good things about how people are so excited we are getting it and that we are fixing it up. I think people think it wasn't fair that it didn't go on the market but anyone could have stopped and asked about it. I think the timing was just right and she knew my family and that we would raise our kids there and not move.

So we got all that worked out then they tell us they want US to find them a house. They don't want to use a relator but us. You can imagine my face. Here I am with two small needy kids and Josh who works long house and now we are there agents as well. This was NOT an easy process but thankfully we have found them one. They wanted a brick ranch near downtown Apex and wanted it under $175,000. This was almost impossible. Thankfully someone told me about a man who had just bought a brick ranch to fix up and sell. Here is how I know this was a God thing...I had met this man a few weeks before this. One day I was riding my bike near downtown and he was outside and I randomly stopped to ask him if he knew of any houses in the area for sale. He told me he was a builder and gave me his card and said to call him he was working on getting a house near downtown, I kept his card but didn't think anything else about it.  Little did I know a few weeks later a friend of the family would tell me to call him because he just bought a brick ranch. I remembered that I kept his card and I called him and guess what. It is a brick ranch, perfect location, in their price range AND it already has a wheelchair ramp. Talk about giving me chill bumps. He said he actually thought about me stopping by that day but he didn't have my number; he was going to let us know about the house but I called him first. So he is going to fix up this house for them and they are going to move in on Oct. 1st. It is the perfect house for them. When Mr. Ron went over to see it a couple of weeks ago he loved it and they signed papers that day. Of course we had to have a little drama and the poor sweet man fell down the steps and hit his leg and head really hard.  I have taken him to the ED twice since the fall but thankfully today he is much better. They have pretty much adopted us as their kids and they LOVE my babies.

When I call Ms. Ann it has to be nap time because we talk a hour almost every time. She will ask "how are my babies doing today?" My kids love going over to see them and we try to take them food at least once a week. Today I went and got them some stuff from the grocery store and they are always so grateful. They really need family in the area but their kids are out of state. They are a little needy but I don't mind helping when I can. Mr. Ron calls us "angels" which clearly we are not but it does make me happy to know we are helping someone out. I am just so thankfully that they have a new house to move into. For awhile I thought we may never find them one. Of course Mr. Ron said he "never worried for a minute" when one house didn't work out because he knew this was part of a plan that God had for all of us. I agree totally. They aren't able to close on the house until Dec because of their loan but the sweet man who is fixing it up for them is going to let them rent it back from him for two months.

Now moving them is going to be insane. They have 4100sq ft of  "stuff" in their current house and they are down sizing to 1800 sq ft.  I think Ms. Ann could possibly be called a "hoarder." All of the barns are full of stuff too. I know it all can't go with them but she doesn't want to sell it so I don't know what we are going to do with it. She is leaving some amazing antique furniture for us and I am SO excited about that. I am still hoping and praying they will agree to an estate sell for the rest of it or we may never get moved in.

Here is the other part to the story...our house was put on the market about a week after we signed papers and it sold in less than 12 hours for full asking price. We were SO excited but nervous because at this point they did not have anywhere to go. Well I knew it was too good to be true but everything was going ok until the inspection. They didn't want to work with us on fixing things and they backed out. So now I am trying not to worry but we still haven't sold our house. We have had tons of showings but no other offers yet. Josh isn't too worried and I am really trying but it makes me nervous because we close on our new house in just a couple of weeks. Praying that our house will sell soon. We have started work to the outside of our new house but we won't be able to do the inside until we move them out. We are really hoping to be in by Christmas but we are sure if that will happen or not. This has been a fun, stressful and crazy ride that we have been on but I know this house was meant for us to have because of the way it all happened. We can't wait to raise our kids there and make new memories. I am going to be so sad to leave our house and our neighbors but we are only moving 2 miles away so thankfully we will still see them often! Hoping to post pictures soon of my babies and catch up on a few more posts.