On the Move....4th time in 5 years!

I don't think anyone could deny that one thing Brian and I are good at is moving. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. When I say that, the last handful have been assisted by professionals, so we are not claiming to be awesome at it completely by ourselves, but there is definitely a method to moving madness and organization is key...and I personally believe that lots of plastic Rubbermaid/Sterilite totes help too. It never ceases to amaze me that as hard as we try to tell moving companies that we have more stuff that it appears to the naked eye, all of the time estimates are always too low. It took the packers 2 hours longer than they thought, and it took the loaders 4 hours longer. What can I say, we have giant man's furniture...and lots of stuff. (It was the same way in Germany, too.)

My mom came to Virginia on Saturday and helped get things further organized and really prevented me from trying to do too much. Brian was still going to meetings and had to go into hospitals through yesterday so the extra set of eyes was very helpful.

Of course I also had a Dr. appt. thrown in yesterday afternoon . . . nothing like the last minute, huh . . . (they wouldn't do it any earlier). I had to take a glucose test, more bloodwork, and get a Rhogam (sp?) shot because I have Rh negative blood. (If Connor's blood is positive [like Brian's] I'll have to get another one after he is born too.) I am currently measuring 26 centimeters, which is "right on" because the average correlates with the number of weeks....I am at 27. The Dr. said everything looked and sounded great with him (heartrate 130 bpm), so in the midst of a lot of other chaos, Brian and I are extremely thankful that he seems to be a healthy, happy, little guy so far. Now, I've got to figure out which Dr. I am going to go to in Ohio once we arrive. I need to get all of my records transferred because now I have to go every 2 weeks...sheesh.

After my long Dr. appt., the loaders were still at the house, but only had about another hour to go. We'd already loaded up our cars and after a brief photo shoot in an empty apartment, we got the kitties loaded into my car and mom and I headed south around 5:00 pm. We arrived at my parent's house at 3:05 am, safe and sound. I had a hard time leaving Brian, knowing he is going to be all by himself in a hotel for a while. He'll head this way for wedding festivities next week, and then we'll drive up to Ohio with our entire little family.

Once again, we are in a transitional period, but thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel and part of the transition process includes celebrating the marriage of 2 of my favorite people...Grant and Carrie.

Ours was on the far left...bottom section only.

So long, residence of 5.5 months....onto our next adventure.

Baby Bump Progression, 15, 19, 23, & 27 Weeks

The background is technically the same, but you can see that the packers were at our house on Tuesday! Maybe, by week 31 we'll have the sofa table I've been standing in front of unloaded and in it's new home, but it will be in a very different location!

"Baby" Steps — Connor's Nursery

Amid the chaos of getting ready for the packers and movers that will be here in less than a week, we are also having to keep all of our baby ducks in a row. So, after organizing all of the important documents we might need for closing and just traveling in general, I ordered the baby furniture!

After a ton of research, many questions (thank you Nikki and Alissa!), and price comparisons we decided to go with the Munire Majestic furniture line in "Cabernet" - a very deep cherry finish. I never expected baby furniture to be an investment, but at this point, that is exactly what it is. We will likely send Connor away to college with this furniture --- at least he can have it as a grown-up if he pleases. We purchased the "flat back" crib, combo dresser and hutch for our little man..not the armoire that is also pictured to the right. The crib converts to a toddler/day bed and then to a full-sized bed. (We went ahead and bought the conversion rails for this after the very nice woman at the store scared me out of waiting....what if the line discontinues, they change the hardware, or he decides he is too big for the crib and we have to wait 10 weeks for the rails to come in????) At least we got 10% off the entire purchase! So, although he is not even born yet, we are ready for him to be a teenager. :)

A lot of people have been asking me about color schemes for the nursery. Brian and I fell in love with the bedding at Babies 'R Us and bought it (and the mobile) 3 days after we found out we were having a BOY! It is the Nojo "My Little MVP" collection and we hope that it too will grow with our little guy. It is certainly baby appropriate, but is not "cutsie". The set came with a quilt (we will hang on the wall....we know it is a safety hazard), 1 window valance, crib sheet, dust ruffle, diaper stacker, and bumper. We've registered for one more window valance, the hamper and the lampshade, but that should do it. I already love it, but think I will prefer the way the set looks on our dark wood furniture. (The green is a much nicer shade in person...much darker and not so minty at all!)

I'm not sure about wall color just yet, but we'll probably keep it a neutral tan/beige that goes with the bedding and looks nice with the furniture. Thankfully, we've got a little time to figure that out. I just had to order the furniture now because it could take up to 12 weeks to come in! (Babies are not for procrastinators!) The store we ordered the furniture from is in Ohio and they are going to deliver, assemble and remove all the trash for $89! Since we don't have a truck and the dresser and hutch come fully assembled, this was very appealing.

So, until we are actually in our little house and are settled, you can just use your imagination and the aid of these internet pictures to create your own visual of what Connor's room will end up looking like. We also hope to get an upholstered glider/rocker and ottoman, and we still need to get the mattress, but then he'll be all set.

Toonces.....wearing a bib

When I was in Georgia, mom and I found several super cute "Georgia" outfits on clearance at Babies 'R Us. When I brought them home it sparked Brian's interest in ordering some Air Force Academy gear for Connor to wear. He ordered a onesie, a bib, and a mini plush falcon named Swoop. :) They arrived today. Toonces was very interested and the bib fits her perfectly! Her face looks like she's not amused, but she didn't try to take it off for a long time!

We have the best weasels in the world! Here they are taking a little nap together. Mitsy has since been "furminated" and does not appear so greasy. ;)

This is their favorite blanket....

Ok, enough cat pictures...we know....time for a kid!

OUR HOUSE!!! (Under Contract!)

Well, all went well...we feel good about it and the sellers feel good about the deal agreed on! It was a little awkward talking about everything face-to-face over a kitchen table (without realtors), but it is done now and we are scheduled to close on June 11th!!!

I was an idiot and didn't take a picture of the front when it was light out, so we'll probably have to go by the house and take a picture in the morning from the curb. (we did, thus the new pictures.....) The neighborhood seems to be really fantastic and all just about everyone is our age. There are two one year olds on the block right now! They have cookouts and Christmas parties....the president and treasurer of the home owner's association are both on our (future) culdesac! So, YAY for us!!

Here are some pictures....with all of their stuff.....but it really is just move-in ready! Thank goodness!

Living room or dining room, right off the foyer. All of the open doorways are arched....we like it....













View of family room from foyer.







From kitchen look-through into family room....with nice built-in bookshelves. We are planning on putting our TV above the fireplace.





Kitchen from front of family room.





Kitchen....didn't take a picture of the dining area....crap.






The back deck is right off the kitchen (with a screen door). They also added on a patio that leads to a nice little area for our fire pit and has views of the lake!



















Another really nice feature of this house that set it apart from the rest is the completely finished basement! The stairs kind of divide the space in two: one perfect for little kid stuff, and the other is a good space for adults to hang out....so we can all be together.







The laundry room is "unfinished" in the basement and there is a chute from the 2nd floor. All appliances are staying with the house and these owners added a folding table and sink...nice bonuses.


There are 4 bedrooms in the 2nd floor of the house. One of them is currently being used as an office. We will do the same. The current owners added hardwood floors, shelving, track lighting and also created a fun little window seat that has views of the lake.











The master bedroom. The only disappointing factor about the house is that the bathroom only has 1 sink. We'll either have to get over it or make that our little addition.


Connor's future room at the top of the stairs. :)






Future guest room. This is the only room that will absolutely HAVE to be painted. The others can change colors as we see fit.





The laundry chute beginning from the linen closet in the hall upstairs.









2 car garage with a door leading to the back yard. They've added all sorts of shelving that will stay....good for us!








Come visit us in Ohio in about a month and you can sit here and enjoy a cup of coffee! Come in 3-4 and you can hold a little baby boy too!


Now we just have to hope and pray that everything goes well from now until closing!!!

Stressful, Tired, Fingers Crossed

Ok, let's see...I will start with our arrival on Friday night.

Good God, no one should ever stay at the Holiday Inn in "Hudson". It isn't actually in Hudson, OH, it is in Boston Heights and let me tell you...it is a dump! We were supposed to stay there for 4 nights, but right after we checked in it became very clear that that would NOT be happening. (and we are not picky...used to sleeping anywhere cheap in Europe) There was no breakfast, the internet didn't work, no elevator (glad I'm not super huge!), and it smelled like a mixture of about 5 different scented air fresheners in the lobby and all halls. Brian could barely get online to his company site to cancel the reservation and move us somewhere else. We had to stay one night because we'd already checked in, but now we are MUCH happier at a Hampton Inn in Stow....beautiful rooms, free breakfast, and great internet (wired and wireless) and even cookies in the lobby after 3:00 pm!

Now to the house hunt business.... After arriving it became VERY clear that renting a house basically isn't an option. The only houses that are available were built long ago and are geared a lot more toward college kids in the Kent area than for families. In addition, no one finds short-term with kitties appealing. So, that was scratched pretty quickly. Apartments also are tough to come by. Yes, there are plenty of apartments, but none that are big enough, do short-term leases, and allow cats. Our curent "carriage house" apartment is big by apartment standards and we BARELY fit. And that is only because it has an "eat-in" kitchen allowing us to use the dining room as office space. So, apartments are out unless we want to rent an additional storage space.

On Saturday we looked at a lot of condos and townhouse style places with a few "cluster homes" thrown in also. After about 15 properties, there was only 1 that was very appealing. It was in a great area and the price seemed great......

Pat, Leslie, Scott and Mary drove down to meet us for dinner (I was starving....no lunch break, even for the pregnant lady...thank goodness I had some snack bars in my purse!) At dinner, Brian got a call from our realtor and the one house that we really liked was under contract....awesome. However, we noticed that the house next door was "for sale by owner", so we went back by and Brian knocked on the door to see if we could take a look. They asked for 10 minutes to get their 2 kids in the basement watching a movie and to pick up a little bit, but then we saw it...it is great! They are asking more money than the one right next door, but it has 4 bedrooms instead of 3 and a completely finished basement...and has a great deck, with a patio adjacent that has great lake views. The decor is great and there are built-ins that flank the fireplace in the family room. The family is super nice and weren't scared off by our sooner-than-normal timeline. They are just planning to move into a neighboring community. Anyway, our spirits were lifted!

Sunday, we drove around on our own and went by a few new listings that our realtor was planning on taking us to today. They were all either "cluster homes" (smaller lots with a montly fee to cover trash and snow removal) or homes. Some looked appealing, but it is tough without going inside. Brian's good friend Matt, and his wife Ann had us over for dinner last night so we were treated to a wonderful meal and great company. Thank goodness they were also willing to lend us a jacket and sweatshirt....we did not look at the weather prior to our trip and it is chilly.....now I know....ALWAYS bring a jacket to Ohio...I don't care if it is May!

That brings us to today. We messed around with getting pre-approved for a loan before our realtor picked us up at noon for another afternoon of "hunting". Brian's computer was also invaded by little bugs...literally graphic little bugs were crawling on his business computer screen and he got messages that there were severe problems...awesome. Thank goodness his company has great tech support and can take over the computer to get it fixed. (It is still being "immunized" right now.)

We are back from the final hunt and although the very last property we looked at was very nice, Brian and I both still feel that the for-sale-by-owner home is the best for us. We are going back over there tonight to take another look and talk to them more. So, fingers crossed that everything will all work out. It is so hard to figure out what to offer in a market like this. We don't want to insult them, but we also want a good deal ourselves. Since our realtor didn't show us the property, there are no realtors involved. Hopefully this will help with our bargaining position to let that factor help both of us out. We should know more after our second time going through tonight.....fingers crossed.

So, that is all I have to report. Probably more than you care to know, but we are hopeful to be in a very nice place in June. It will be great for us, the baby, and even guests! We will likely stay there for at least a year unless Brian's commute becomes too ridiculous (depending on where he ends up) or if they really pull a fast one and move us to a different state (that is not likely...thank goodness). We are extremely thankful that Brian's company pays for his car and his gas and I am thankful for a husband that is willing to spend a lot of time in the car so we can feel more settled and finally put down a few roots....at least for a while.

All for now. Love and hugs.....

Drama, Chaos.....another ADVENTURE!

Where to start??? I'm not exactly sure, but I'll just say that after my hair appointment in the morning, we are going dwelling hunting in the Akron area of OHIO! It was all a pretty big shock when Brian was offered a position in an outside territory. It will be a blessing for Brian to get back to his home state and a wonderful surprise to have some family and friends close by when Connor arrives. The only hiccup in the plan is that since Brian is expected to cover a large territory if needed (similar to what he is doing here in Virginia) we aren't exactly sure where to live and it has not been recommended that we not purchase a house until we have a smaller area to look in. SO, that means TWO moves....one while I'm pregnant and then another one a few months after the baby is born when we will definitely purchase a home.....sheesh. We tried to figure out a way that the double move would not have to happen, but nothing has worked out so far.

If we find something outstanding when we go this weekend to buy, then it is a possibility if the location is right, but otherwise, please hope and pray that we are able to find a nice HOUSE that we can rent with a short-term lease or better yet, month-to-month. We did find what appeared to be a WONDERFUL new home for sale, but it is under contract. We are thinking about possibly building that house, but will find out more this weekend.

Welcome to our craziness! We only THOUGHT we were moving back to America to settle down!!! Believe me, we will settle....just a few more months of chaos first!