Moving Day #1 & Connor Stats

Connor bright and early on moving day! (Too early for pictures, mom!)

So far, in every move, the company underestimates the amount of stuff we have. Well, at least they never send enough people to pack it all up. It is only 10:00 am and it looks like it might be true once again! There is a driver and one guy to pack....not enough. One of the guys is working crazy hard and the driver/packer is making phone calls to get reinforcements I guess....not a good sign. Anyway, our kitchen is being packed as I type, so I guess we'll be eating pizza tonight.

Better go... Leslie just got here..yay for Grandma!

Connor's 6 month appointment is today too.....busy busy! He is 28" long and weighing in at 19 lbs 9 oz. So, he is in the 90-95% in height and the 75% for weight. He got 3 shots and was a little champ. He is being really fussy right now though so it might be a combination of a crazy hectic day, the shots, and teething...what a combo....might have to take a bath early tonight.

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Definitely the biggest truck we've ever had.

In the end, 2 more helpers came to help pack and they got a lot more done than we thought! YAY! They should finish packing tomorrow, and load 1/4 of the stuff, so hopefully that means that Connor, Grandma Nealon and I will be able to head to Michigan pretty early on Wednesday. We are picking up Mary on the way in Sandusky too!

The kitties are pretty much traumatized. I don't think they saw this coming at all. Poor Mitsy is still hiding... First, she was under the covers in our master bedroom, but they needed to get it taken apart, so I moved her to the guest room bed. Toonces was hiding under the basement stairs, so I rescued her and added her to the guest bed too.

I called all the utility companies up in Michigan today and got everything ready to be transferred into our name on Thursday. I'm excited too because after a little TV service provider shopping, we are going to have "at&t uverse". It was cheaper to go that route with TV and internet AND we'll get to transfer stuff from tv to tv...I'm pumped. :) (doesn't take much)

Family moving day picture while I'm on hold with Time Warner.....

Connor Plays

First, it has been great having my dad around (in and out) this passed week while Brian has been gone. It has been good comic relief and a nice break to be able to pass Connor off to "Monte-D." (mon-tay-dee). My mom flew in on Friday night for the long weekend too. She beat Brian into town by about 30 minutes and Connor managed to stay awake for both of them.

As you can see in the video, he has definitely grown into his exersaucer and loves spending time in there! He makes all sorts of noises and Brian frequently calls him "Chewy" because of his Chewbacca sounds. :) Just recently he has started jumping in the saucer, so I look forward to getting to use the Johnny-Jump-Up at our new house.

Jumping Through Hoops

I originally had all of this combined with the post above, but I thought I'd break it into two....

For those of you that have kept up with the saga...Can you believe we still don't have our chair?! It has been almost 7 MONTHS!!! Well, I finally got a call last week from the owner of the store and he set up delivery for today! But surprise, surprise...NO CHAIR! Yesterday, I got a call from him again and he said that the base of the chair was warped. (Why didn't anyone notice this last week when he called to schedule delivery?!) I was so mad and really in disbelief, but after 7 months, I should know better. I was so irritated that I didn't even process that he offered to give us the "grover chair" and give us a full refund for the chair we ordered. I shot that down and told him he had about 8 days before we were going to be moved to Michigan. Well, after calming down a little and talking to Brian, we decided to take him up on his offer. The blue chair (apparently doesn't look as bad in person as it does in the picture on this blog) matches our basement furniture pretty well and we could use some extra seating in our new basement. And this way at least it is over and takes the stress out of it. I already ordered and received a glider and ottoman from Target from the partial refund that we were expecting and it looks really nice in Connor's bedroom. So in the end, once we find one for the living room we will have gotten 3 chairs for the price of 1. Not too bad, we just had to deal with bad business practices and 7 months of irritation. :)

Bottom line everyone in this area should boycott SWEET DREAMS BABY....can you imagine if it had been a crib or dresser or something like that?!

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The new annoyance of the day is insurance. Amidst all the moving paperwork and getting utilities transferred, etc. Brian got a packet from work about dependents. Basically, we have to submit paperwork proving that Connor and I are his dependents to continue being covered by medical/dental insurance. This is for all employees, not just Brian. It is just that the timing of it is irritating. So, they need the first page of our tax return from last year as my proof and they need Connor's birth certificate for his proof. I drove to downtown Akron to get Connor's birth certificate and had to pay $16.50 for the first copy. Has anyone else not been issued one for free in the mail? I just thought it was bizarre, but of course I had no choice and now it is done. Well, when I called the company in charge of gathering all of this documentation and was told that the birth certificate alone is not enough proof for Connor...?!? We have to show that Connor is "financially dependent" on Brian. The lady on the phone asked me if Connor was in daycare or if we were divorced (Brian paying child support). Of course both of those answers were "No". So she said I have to wait to submit everything after we've filed our 2008 tax return so Connor's name will be on it too. Sweet. So, that is one more thing I have to keep up with during the move and don't get to check off. Oh yeah, and if it isn't all squared away by May 22nd, we are dropped from coverage! I know we need to get our taxes finished, but the primary irritant is that I was trying to get it all squared away today so I don't even have to think about it, but that would be WAY too easy.

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In addition to all of that, we've been jumping through hoops providing all sorts of financial documentation for our new house. It is very comforting to know that 2 weeks from now we'll be getting settled in our new house....already slept there for a few nights!

Connor is sleeping now and I should be cleaning, doing work, or sleeping myself, but instead I'm typing this and watching the Biggest Loser....I need to get my priorities in order....

Scroll Down for Christmas & Move #5

I finally added a Christmas slide show. I started it long ago, so scroll down or find the link in January 2009 to see it.

Amazingly, move #5 to the Grand Rapids area is right around the corner! The packers will begin on Monday, February 23rd and work until completion to load the truck on the 25th. We close on our new house in Michigan on the 26th and hope to have all of our stuff delivered to us on the 27th! I am so thankful that Leslie and Mary have offered their helpful services while the movers are here. Brian has been hard at work in Michigan and it is still up in the air if he'll be able to make it back for the transition. So, the help is MUCH APPRECIATED! There isn't a whole lot I can do in preparation because I'm not supposed to pack anything (or it won't be insured) so it is primarily about organization and getting rid of stuff.

I'm trying to avoid lots of posts without pictures and that has happened a lot recently, so I thought I'd add house progression pictures. This is move #5, but look where we started.....

#1 • MARYLAND
September 2003–June 2006

#2 • GERMANY
August 2006–July 2007

#3 • VIRGINIA
December 2007–June 2008
(just the bottom!)

#4 • OHIO
June 2008–February 2009

#5 • MICHIGAN
February 2009–a long time from now!
(my favorite!!! We'll stick around for a while!)

Our new address beginning on February 26th is:
7086 Nantucket SW Drive
Byron Center, Michigan 49315

Connor is growing so fast and can do more and more each day! My dad is doing business in Ohio now and has been keeping us company this week. My mom flies in tonight and I think she'll be surprised at how much Connor can do! We've been out to eat several times with my dad and Connor is a champ at restaurants! He just hangs out in his carseat and plays with his toys...YAY! I need to take some movies of him laughing and playing to post here.

Connor's Swank New Swing

My grandmother, "Granny" wanted to get Connor and Torin swings after seeing how much both of them loved the hand-me-down swing at my parents house. Target's in-store selection wasn't very good and we aren't very close to a Babies 'R Us, so we just got the swing here in Michigan yesterday afternoon! Brian put it together and it is an INSTANT success! It doesn't even have batteries in it yet, we just give it a push every now and then with my foot (we will be getting batteries today). Anyway, I wanted to post pictures of the happy guy in his swank new swing. :)

By the way, I PROMISE that the fact that his outfit matches the fabric of the swing is a complete coincidence....Brian bathed and dressed him....I had nothing to do with it! :)

I JUST took this sleeping picture....he is still asleep in this exact position....

New House in Michigan!

It is very late, but I just had to write something.

After a submitting an offer on a house in Grand Rapids on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 1 pre-Superbowl) we finally reached an agreement this afternoon (Feb. 4) and will once again be new homeowners. We could not have done it without our amazing realtor, Dave, who worked so hard for us and is actually Allison (Oertel) Barton's uncle! Thank you so much for getting us together!

Brian and I both fell in love with the house as soon as we set foot inside. It is a ranch style with a walk out basement on a 14 acre swimming/fishing/canoeing/ice skating/ice fishing/hockey lake. Our house is right on the lake, so we'll even have a beach! The house has wonderful attention to detail, lots of charm and is really my dream home. It is brand new and in phase 1 of the development itself.

Amazingly, of approximately 15 homes that have been completed, there are about 6 babies under 1 year of age! So, we look forward to making new friends and having a great neighborhood for Connor to grow up in! We are also thankful that the school system is awesome....National Blue Ribbon awards! Yippee! AND it is near interstates so Brian has easy access to all the hospitals he needs to frequent.

Enough jabber...here are a few pictures.

Family picture from our new living room (I'm looking ROUGH!) Oh well....

side/back view....I need to get another better one of the back, but Connor had run out of patience

I just love that it is blue and is cheerful in the winter!

Today is a GREAT Day!

I promise I will post pictures soon....especially after today.....

We will be signing a Lease to Purchase contract with a wonderful family here in Stow that absolutely loves our house and will be purchasing it from us within the next two years! We are oh, so thankful!

Prior to last night we weren't really sure what "Lease to Own" meant, but a lady called on the phone asking if we would consider it. They sold their condo (FSBO) and have to hand over keys on March 1st, but can't be approved for a loan in today's financial market. So, after some good conversations, things are going to work out GREAT!

Very briefly, the way Lease-to-Purchase works is that the tenants pay a % of the price of the house up front, then they make a normal rent payment and in addition to that, they pay a rent premium. Ours is for a 24 month lease, so at the end of 2 years, if they have not purchased the property from us, then they forfeit the % up front as well as the premium that they paid each month. If they do purchase the property (which is the goal and I feel more than confident that it will happen) then the % and premiums are credited back to the buyer toward the purchase price of the house. That price is agreed upon now and the Embrys are actually giving us our asking price! So, their rent payment will cover our mortgage and HOA fees, plus we aren't having to pay any realtor fees and we are making $2500 on our house! Considering the slow real estate market and the fact that we will only have lived here for a total of 8.5 months, this is fantastic! And of course all the money that they pay on our mortgage that goes towards principle is just like cash as soon as they buy the property.

In addition to the financial stress relief that this provides, it is a wonderful feeling to know that Brian is not going to have to commute to Grand Rapids for months, we can be together as a family, and finally get really settled for the last time (in a while!). The only glitch at all is not really a glitch. We will turn over the house on March 1st. That is not much time for us to find and close on a new house in Michigan. We are hopeful, but also don't want to rush into anything. If we have to pay for our stuff to be stored with the moving people for a while, then so be it. If that is all we have to worry about, then I think we are sitting pretty!

So, all of this is just wonderful. We just got back from a celebratory dinner (at Rockne's) with Matt and Ann. Not only do we not have to worry about the house anymore, but Connor also turned 5 months old today!!! We are so blessed to have such an amazing little boy. He is really starting to enjoy and explore eating solid foods. So far green beans and apples are his favorites. He is growing and maturing every day and is really starting to be a lot of FUN!

Overall, I couldn't be happier today, we have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

If you want to see pictures of the house, I made a blog to help sell it...it worked!
www.5055LakePointCourt.blogspot.com

God Bless Walt, and others!

I know I promised this would be a Christmas post with pictures....oops. Instead it is another "Shower Fiasco" update!

Yesterday, despite temperatures in the teens, Connor and I just needed some fresh air. So, with Connor in the front pack, we shoveled snow off the sidewalk and driveway (even though the driveway is cleared by our H.O.A.). While we were busy at work, one of our neighbors, Walt was headed out of his house and stopped to talk.

A little background information on Walt....
• Brian refers to him as "Doc" (from Back to the Future) because of his longer white hair
• When we moved in, he and his wife Gwen were some of the first to introduce themselves
• We soon found out that we were the only ones on the street that don't have a problem with him
• He is the one that calls the cops on the 4th of July parties every year and complains about campfires around the mailbox gazeebo.
• They are the only house NOT invited to neighborhood functions like clam bakes, Christmas parties, etc.

We've chosen to not take sides because Walt and Gwen have never done anything ill to us specifically. Boy am I glad!

During our little talk yesterday I told him about our little winter water leak and he suggested writing the mayor of Stow, Karen Fritschel and giving her all the details. He said he was sure she would forward the e-mail on to others and maybe something would come of it. In addition, Walt said he was having lunch with the mayor today and he would mention our situation again! Turns out Walt is on some sort of City Board! So, I wrote the e-mail with all the details as soon as we went inside. I got a personal response from the mayor within 4 hours telling me she was working on it.

Another hour later I got a call from the Water Department basically asking if I was requesting a credit or a payment plan (for water...sheesh). Of course I said credit and once again, our story and information was going to be passed around.

Well, this afternoon I got this e-mail from the Finance Director of the city of Stow:

Mrs. Nealon,

The mayor’s office forwarded your request to my office for credit on your 184 unit usage of water. You should be receiving a call from our utility billing department verifying our adjustment to your account to show a usage of 5 units for the period of the leak. In addition, my supervisor will be contacting the Department of Environmental Services with our adjustment of your usage and hopefully they will adjust their billing for sewer charges to reflect the adjustment. Sewer charge adjustments are up to the Department of Environmental Services.

Sincerely,

John Baranek, Finance Director

City of Stow

So, YAY! God Bless Walt, the mayor, the finance director, the water department and all others who had a hand in saving us over $550!!! I guess we will just wait and see about the Department of Environmental Services, but this is just a HUGE blessing!

So, another lesson from this whole situation is it never hurts to ask. The worst thing that could of come from my e-mail to the mayor was complete inaction all-together, but instead look what came of it all! It is also a lesson in following through with things I guess....what is that quote about good intentions?

Ok, that is all for this post. Today has just been a great day. Despite that Brian is in Grand Rapids (coming home tomorrow), he had a great work day too. Now, if I would only get a call about someone wanting to look at our house, this might be one of the greatest days ever! (I'm not holding my breath....it is 10º outside, snowing and getting late....maybe tomorrow. :)