Jul 29, 2008

The Sound of Crickets

First of all thank-you everyone for your bottle advice! I'm sticking with the playtex nursers for now and we'll hope the little one likes 'em!

We drove out to the land yesterday night to take some measurements for the building permit. It was about 8:30pm by the time we got there. I cannot tell you how peaceful it was out there. The only thing you could hear were the crickets chirping in the field. Not a single car drove by, the stars were blazing bright and it smelled so sweet of the hay and wildflowers in the field. I can't wait until we get settled out there. I grew up on 107 acres and I'd forgotten how much I loved living in the country (of course the road I grew up on was much busier than the one I have to look forward to.) And Jason said that ever since he can remember he's always wanted to live somewhere very rural where you can't even see your neighbors.

He can't wait to tend a vegetable garden! I'll do the flowers and he'll do the veggies. We sat over lunch the other day and a dreamed and made plans for all that we'll grow and what we'll can and how we'll teach our kids to do the same growing up. Yes, this will be good!

Jul 26, 2008

Calling All Mommies for Advice

So I just finished registering for all the baby stuff. Wow is that all overwhelming!

I need advice on bottles. What kind should I register for!? I will be nursing but when I go back to work I will need to pump enough and have enough bottles for the baby for two days a week.




I've always thought the playtex ones with the drop in liners are best because they are "most like mother". But there are like ten thousand different kinds of nipples to go with them, silicon, not silicon, orthodontic....yada, yada, yada. Also will it be too expensive having to buy all those liners or will it be more convenient because they're already sanitized? (anyhoo, these are the ones I'm registered for right now.)



Then there are these "nuk" bottles that have orthodontic recommended nipples that promote healthy teeth formation.



Then there are these kind of bottles that are tilted that are supposed to help with gas and ease of feeding. And then some of these tilted ones have this airvent flow thing that claims to be the best thing since sliced bread.




What do I get ladies? And how many of each size? And how many nipples and what kind of nipples? Please tell me!

Done Deal....Finally

After an unwarranted racket, and much waiting and wondering the deal is going through. We agreed to escrow them the money to get the work done from the people who gave the cheaper estimate (and actually knew what they were doing too.)

The good news and the bad news:
The bad news first. I'm really not happy about what we decided. I have this begrudging pit in my stomach from conceding to pay for work that I think is absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. I'm trying to work on that. I also am worried because we really did not have a lot of wiggle room in our price. We priced it right because it is a bad market but we've only owned the house for 2 1/2 years. it's not like we're making much profit here,certainly not getting back all that we've put in over those years. We're just selling because we have to move for Jason's job. So this extra money that we're giving them from the profit to go towards bogus bum work is money that we really needed in order to afford our next move and our new little babe on the way. So yeah. Not happy.

But the good news is that things are solidified now. No more wondering if the deal will go through or not. And we thought about saying no or just offering them half, but to be honest we just conceded out of fear. Fear that we they would back out and we would then have to wait for another buyer, maybe not get as good of a price and maybe not move until way later which would be seriously bad for my stress level, and this little child. So now we know. We can move forward with our timetable and can be settled a few months before this little one arrives and have time to spend as a couple, savor the pregnancy and prepare for this big life transition. I guess when I think about all of that, those are really the more important things as far as our child, my health and our relationship go. I'm still just having some trouble with bitterness over the whole thing. So you can pray for that!

Also, we've found a place to stay while we're "in limbo". A friend of Jason's family owns a camp (a.k.a. extremely nice little gambrel house) right on China Lake. He told us we could stay there as long as we like if we paint the kitchen. Umm, heck yeah! We're like professional painters at this point! We'll have that done in no time. I'm gonna clean the place all up for him real nice too!

Jul 22, 2008

Happy Times

After my last posts I went and listened to some relaxation CD's and they put me right to sleep. I napped from like 2-5pm! Then, considering the last few weeks and certainly this day, I needed some happy time. So tonight we went to Burlington Coat Factory to register in their Baby Depot! So fun!

We did everything gender neutral except for the crib bedding and room decor. We've come to a great compromise with the room. We're going to paint it light green and the colors if it is a girl will be green and pink and if it is a boy will be green and blue.

We found this SUPER cute girl bedding that is pink with green. It has froggies and turtles and ducks on it which I love because I didn't want frilly flowers or anything. So if it turns out to be a boy, we'll just return that bedding and buy this other SUPER cute boy bedding that is blue and green with froggies all over it and the room will be camping themed. I'm excited about both options! Here is what they both look like.

And here's my baby belly at almost 21 weeks! The other picture is from just two weeks ago! See what I mean by a belly explosion!?

No Mold...Still a pain in my rear.

So here's the verdict on the mold. It is exactly what we said it was and what our house inspector said it was. It is old, it is dead. There is no moisture problem. The air quality in the house and the attic is very good.

What's the problem then you say? The problem is that the buyer's agent is still saying that it needs to be taken care of. They brought in Trembley builders, THE MOST expensive people in the state of Maine and they said that all of the insulation needs to be removed, all of the wood needs to be cleaned, sealed and then primed and they gave a ROUGH estimate of 5,000. YEAH FRIGGIN' RIGHT is all I have to say to that.

My question is this....the mold expert lady said there WAS NO LIVE MOLD. She said the air quality was GOOD. So WHAT then, needs to be "taken care of"?

So we are getting a second estimate by people that are recommended as good at cleaning mold but are half way sane about their pricing and such. HOWEVER! Just because we are getting a second opinion (AT OUR EXPENSE BY THE WAY!) does not mean I think that we should or am willing to pay ONE CENT of that because there IS NO ISSUE and therefor no need to FIX a NON-ISSUE!

Can you tell I'm super thrilled about the whole situation and not angry at all!?

It's a Girl....rock lady thinks....maybe.....maybe not....

So let me just start out by saying that the 20 week ultrasound experience was one of the biggest let downs ever. Perhaps my expectations were too high but I think not. It all started when we got an ultrasound technician with the personality of a rock. She had the worst bedside manner and literally DID NOT TALK. She just moved the little thing around on my stomach while she madly clicked away at the computer. She did not tell me what she was doing, looking at, looking for, what I was seeing. So after a while I decided this was unacceptable and I just starting asking her. And quite honestly I hope I was a big pain in her A**!

I was all. "What's that? What's that? What's that? What are you doing? What are you doing now? What are you looking for? What are you measuring? Is that normal? Does that look good? What's that?" You'd think she'd have gotten a clue and started volunteering the information on her own, but no. And she only took like 3 of the 3d shots and they were all the exact same shot so she really only took ONE! Uggghhh! So frustrating!

Then here's the best part. Apparently the child was not in the best position to determine the gender. So she tried to determine the gender like twice. (not for very long and not with as much effort as I would have preferred. There was a lady in before me that had an awesome technician that was like trying all these tricks and having her drink water and do all these things so that the baby would change positions.) And this is what she said. "That's not a very good shot. I don't know. I think it looks like a girl. If you go out and buy any pink, just save the receipts." And then she turned off the machine. AWESOME! Thanks a lot. For NOTHING! ROCK LADY!

Here are the pictures rock lady did get for us. I think they're pretty self explanatory.




Jul 21, 2008

Suprise!

So, the people had the house inspection today and their guy said he thinks our attic is filled with mold. (AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, THERE IS NO PART OF OUR HOUSE OR ATTIC THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT MOLD OVER THERE.)

The real story is this. When our house inspector inspected the house when we were buying it he saw the same thing but told us that the house had most likely had a moisture issue in the past before the vent fan was installed which is what the discoloration is from. However, he said there was no current moisture issue and no live mold.

But, they are having someone come out tomorrow to test for mold. So lets hope all goes well because if this deal falls through, I might lose my mind. And I just read about how constant or chronic stress increases cortisol in your body and can lead to lower birth weight in your child. At this rate I'll be giving birth to a 4 pound baby. So you can pray for all of that!

Also, our 20 week ultra sound is tomorrow which I've been looking forward to for a month, but am now having a hard time even thinking about it or being excited about it because it's in the morning and the mold test is at 12pm and all I can think about is all the "what if's" that that whole situation holds. Hopefully that will all melt away for at least 45 minutes when I see our baby on the screen!

Right now I'm doing a surprisingly good job just praying about it, hoping for the best and continuing to tell myself that there is nothing I can do about it and we will have a lot more answers tomorrow at 12pm.

Jul 20, 2008

Picture of the View

Here is a picutre of the view from our hopefully new land. They really don't do it justice but you'll get the idea! This is a shot standing where our trailer will be, looking down the driveway. I'm really quite nervous about signing a contract with someone selling the land by owner. So if you would pray that it's all on the up and up and we have all of our bases covered that would be great!

Jul 19, 2008

Winds of Change

So have have you enjoyed the ride on my emotional roller coaster thus far? Well I'm sure it will continue, but that peace that I talked about flying away weeks ago, seems to be making a slow return.

I had a momentary set back and melt down when I learned last night that a high school math teaching position had opened at the school two seconds from our house! Images of a picture perfect life in the house I love with my husband being able to walk to work each day flashed before my eyes and I began to question if all the decisions made thus far were really just out of haste and fear that no other job would come up. But then I learned that it was a position for and experienced AP Calc teacher which Jason isn't even qualified to apply for. And once again, all seemed right in the world.

Each day I seem to be able to believe a tiny bit more and more that we ARE on the right path and we ARE following the Lord's leading. And with that comes more and more trust and peace that everything, all the details, all the scary what if's really just might work out.

For the first time at the end of this week I have felt feelings of excitement about moving. Before they were just fear, anxiety and sadness. But I've found myself gearing up to paint and decorate and being enthused about it. Tons of little floor plans and furniture layouts and curtains and paint colors are dancing through my head. I also find my self picturing our lot all landscaped and beautiful as I sit at my dining room table, sip my coffee and watch the sun greet the Dixmont hills that lay off in the distance of our beautiful view.

Yes, I do feel winds of change. (At least for right now ;)

Jul 17, 2008

Land

Perhaps we will have a place to put that beauty of a mobile home. Our offer on a 3 acre piece of land (with a well and driveway already in) in Etna go accepted today. We put money down and sign a contract on it on Monday.

The good news of that is, the guy said as soon as we put the money down and sign the contract we can do whatever we want to it. And our contractor is willing to work before he gets paid. Sooo, he can put in the septic and make us a yard and get it ready for trailer hook up!

The only lag time will be when we close waiting for our next loan to disperse so we can close on our land and trailer and then the trailer can be moved and put into place. But that should all be able to happen by end of August. Which puts me painting and unpacking in September and gives me two months to spare before baby comes. Pray that all goes well and every deal goes through!

Jason's gonna take pics of the land and the view tomorrow so I'll put up pics when I can!

Jul 16, 2008

Homeless...maybe, maybe not.

So, you can pray that we won't be homeless. Here's why. I'll give you the quick update on life in general.

LAND WE WERE GOING TO BUY: Land that was supposed to be bought by then end of this week and start being cleared on Sunday fell through. MmmmHmmm. Yeah, too wet, WAY to expensive to make it buildable.

LAND OPTIONS NOW: So we are looking at two other land options, and walking them with our contractor tomorrow morning at the butt crack o dawn before I go to work. Hopefully we will have one under contract soon.

1993 HOLLY PARK: BUT, we put money down on and signed a contract on a mobile home today. We're going on faith because gosh darn it, we have to find some land somewhere!

Here's the floor plan of our sweet new abode! All she needs is paint in every single room and some new carpet. But hey, we've got three bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths and a bigger living room than we have now. I think it'll be very comfortable in the interim. THE PLAN: Either way here's the way it's gonna go down. Pack, close on this house. Get loan for land/trailer. Close on land, close on trailer, do earthwork and set up to land and then move the trailer to the land. So that obviously leaves us in limbo for at least a couple weeks.

THE STRESS LEVEL: My anxiety level is running so high that I cry most parts of the day and I've been on the verge of hyperventilating twice and it rocks the foundation of our marriage on the bad days and I'm pretty sure our child will be born with two heads. So you can pray for that. At this moment in the day I'm doing okay.

THE BABY: I still feel the baby move every single day and it is so cool and so reassuring. It's getting stronger and stronger. The other night Jason felt it with his hand on my belly and tonight the baby was kicking extra strong and we both saw my stomach move. It was awesome! We also have our ultrasound next Tuesday and I'm super grateful for that because I hope it will put my mind at ease that the baby is doing fine! Also, I feel like my belly went through a growth spurt at the end of last week. I'll have to post pictures again soon.

Jul 13, 2008

New Kitchen

Per my mother's request. Here is a pictures of our new counter tops in the kitchen. A round of applause for my handy husband who worked his fingers to the bone for two weeks doing every household project known to man! And a big thanks to Joe who came and helped and lended his tools that we don't have!

BEFORE:

AFTER:And Here's a plug for the people we bought the counter tops from. We went to the home depot and the Lowes but all they had in stock was pink or green or brown and to order the ones we wanted cost 3x more and would take 4-5 weeks!

So a friend recommended TOTAL LAMINATES. It's a small operation that seems to be run by one very nice man. He had the counter tops in stock that I had wanted to put in the kitchen all along. A nice neutral gray granite look. He came out the same day just to check the measurements I gave him. He cut all the counters to size and joined the corner and had them ready for us in two days.....all for 500 bucks! C'mon now! You can't beat that with a stick! Go see the man!

Oh, and by the way I'm going to curl up in my hammock on the West Branch of the Penobscot in order to suck my thumb. Because Jason and I have worked non-stop, have barely seen each other and I wanted him to be able to have a day of fishing to unwind and be rewarded for all he's done. He said his favorite place to fish is the west branch and so that is where we are headed for today and the night. Then we return on Monday to begin all the phone calls and lining up of details for our new home!

Jul 12, 2008

SOLD!

The only reason I didn't post sooner is because I was working. Here's how fast it went. Wednesday night first people looked at our house. Thursday morning they offered. Thursday afternoon we countered and they accepted it within what seemed like minutes. We signed the papers the next day and our house is now under contract for only $950 less than asking price with no contingencies except a home inspection. We close August 11th. Just in case you're counting, that's an accepted offer after less than 4 days on the market.

Oh my good Lord we close Aug. 11th!

Land must be bought. Trees must be cut down. Lot must be prepped. Electric, Septic, and well must be put in. Trailer must be bought and moved. Whole house must be packed and whole house must be moved. And oh yeah, we can't get a loan until the day our house is CLOSED on. Hmmm, looks like we'll be homeless for a bit!

I'm gonna go curl up in a fetal position now and suck my thumb.

Jul 10, 2008

Slow Housing Market my BUM!

So, our house has been on the market since Monday. We've had FOUR people book showings already and the first people to look at it (which was only last night) made us a very nice offer this afternoon!!! (I won't tell the details of HOW nice 'cause I'm still not sure what's kosher in the house selling world. That might be top secret info or something). Ummmm yeah, can you say moving so fast my head is spinning?

Sooooo, we have until 6pm tomorrow night to respond. AND there is someone coming to look at 9:30 am tomorrow. Those people shall be informed that there is already and offer on the table which shall up the pressure for a quick and GOOD offer if they really like it. AND we have someone coming at 3pm tomorrow soooooo if the 9:30am people make an offer too, then the 3:00 people shall be informed that there are TWO offers on the table already. You see how this goes? We could have ourselves a little bidding war! I'm praying for over our asking price (not 'cause we're greedy but 'cause this budding little family needs all the help we can get!)

Hmmmm, perhaps God is blessing this path that we (and when I say we, I mean my faithful husband who often times has to drag me along behind him) believe He has been leading us down.

PS: If you read this before 9:30am tomorrow morning you can pray for my dear husband who is working his fingers to the bone and trying to get the trim finished and countertops installed by the 9:30am showing tomorrow!!!

Jul 9, 2008

House Traffic

An update on our house:

It went on the market on Monday. We had someone look at it this morning, another showing set up for Sat and then tonight someone drove by with their realtor and two minutes later our realtor called us and said they'd like to look at it in a half an hour. We turned off our grill, put dinner on hold and ran around straightening like chicken's with our heads cut off. Our realtor called us shortly afterwards and told us that the people said it was the nicest house they had seen!

On top of that, the OPEN HOUSE sign at the end of our road has been drawing quite the crowd. We must have had 12 people drive by and stop and look at our house in the past two days. I think we're gonna draw a crown on Sat.!

I'm coming to terms with the fact that it might sell pretty darn quickly. And while I'm not excited about packing or moving from my beloved little home and community, I am trying to keep my eyes fixed on the heart of this move which is: To put ourselves in a better financial situation so that I can stay home with kiddos and we can be debt free in a matter of several years. Yes, this will all be worth it!

Jul 7, 2008

House and Baby Belly Update

Well, Sunday 6 people showed up to help paint and let me tell you...they were like machines! Jason had a hard time just keeping up with them as they would finish their task and come to him and say, "What next?" He encouraged them to take breaks but they would simply get their paint or brush or scraper or whatever and go right back to work. They showed up in the morning and worked straight through except for lunch and finished the house by fourish!

I painted the front door, tended the yard sale and played mother to all the little painting maniacs by making sure they had sunscreen, plenty of cold water, snacks and a hearty lunch. I also encouraged breaks but these people were literally machines! Thank a million times over Tara, Steph, Ryan, Dave, Jessie and Chad!

So now we are back to the inside of the house. Our to do list includes, finish the basement trim and small paint work. Finish the trim in the spare room. Make drawer fronts for the island. Hang doors back up. And put in new counter tops in the kitchen. Sure, that seems doable by the open house on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.!

On the baby front, the first stranger recognized I was pregnant today! Yeah! I was wearing a fitted tank top so it was a little easier to see my bump, but I gotta hand it the guy, it was still a risky comment to make. I could've just had a gut and then he'd have been stuck with his foot in his mouth. So here's a picture of me today which is 18 1/2 weeks:Also, I am definitely feeling the baby move now! So exciting! I thought I was feeling it a week or so ago but wasn't totally sure. Now I'm sure that's what it was because it's the same feeling but getting stronger and stronger. It literally feels like someones poking at me from the inside and of course someone is. that someone moves all around and I feel it in different places. The other night I would kind of poke back and then the baby would do it again and that happened a number of times in a row. Of course it could have been total coincidence but I think the little one was responding to me!

Jul 5, 2008

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I don't even know why I'm blogging right now. I'm completely exhausted! Here's a run down of my week:
Monday - I get the all clear from my wid-wife to paint (only varnish is off limits). A giant burden is lifted from my shoulders as I can now actually DO something.

Tuesday - I sew up a storm and then Jason and I prime the whole basement late into the night.

Wednesday - Jason finally gets his job in writing and I work and then we come home and paint the basement late into the night.

Thursday - I work 10 hours and then finish readying the yardsale stuff.

Friday - Work from 7am to 7am on Sat.

Saturday - I get home from a 24 hour shift at 7:30am, drive around putting up yard-sale signs, lug everything out to our driveway, yard sale all day as well as paint the shutters and refinish a dresser and now I am here. typing. I will take a shower and then help Jason haul everything back into the basement to "stage" it for pictures tomorrow.

So was it all worth it? You tell me. What do you think of the results.Don't be fooled. This is just the front. The back still needs to be completely prepped, primed and painted and the sides still need to be finished being primed and then be painted, but what I thought would be impossible to complete by Monday is actually seeming a little more possible.

It would not have been possible without the help of others! So a GIANT THANK-YOU to all! Jason's parents came up and helped us get the basement trim up, a new door ready to install and much of the trim on the outside of the house scraped and primed.

Then Lisa from Jason's school who loves to paint (bless her heart!) helped to prime the whole front of the house. And Pete from church noticed our crumbly chimney and re-topped it and then painted too!

Next Dennis and Doreen from church and my mom came today and finished painting the whole front of the house and got much of the sides primed! We are overwhelmed with gratitude!

And my mom is probably coming back tomorrow and by brother-in-law is probably coming tomorrow and my two friends Steph and Tara are coming tomorrow! THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU. I really think I would have had a nervous break down without all this help! You all have ministered to us in unbelievable ways with your hands on love!