Help us choose

A few weeks ago I briefly mention that we were moving... remember? Of course I'll go into more detail later but right now I have to take a minute to get you guys opinions. We need to choose somewhere to live- so welcome to house hunters- FMTM edition!


Before I start here are some things to keep in mind:
1. We currently do not have any outdoor space and this is something we would like to be able to enjoy in the future.
2. We are moving away from ALL of our family and friends- I mean we don't know anyone where we are going so that means we will be hosting visitors of some sort at different points.
3. We currently enjoy a 2.5 bedroom (the half a 'bedroom' doesn't have a closet in it) and it works but I would like to have an office, and possibly a guest bedroom... maybe some room to expand our family?
4. I have not personally seen ANY of these spaces- I am relying solely on my husband 'knowing me' and lots of camera phone pics to help him make a decision.
5. We want to have a lease signed for August 15. He has to be out of temporary housing by 8/27 (I think) so at this point 8/15 is our best option. He thinks if worse came to worse he could get the employer to allow him to stay until 9/1 (they are very accepting and mindful of the fact that we have a little baby).

So, my husband has spent the last 2 weeks narrowing down our choices. He feels like these are our top two options:

HOUSE #1

I think this is my fave. It has 5 bedrooms (one of which is already designed to be a home office- score!) For the most part the house is pretty updated. The floors are gorgeous (I'm not a fan of carpet), it's spacious (according to hubby), the layout is nice, and we would be able to have overnight guests - no sweat!

The cons: the backyard sucks! - it's mostly gravel and I don't foresee that being enjoyable next summer with a toddler. There is a nice grassy part but it's mainly on the side of the home. So it would be hard to sit on the back deck and watch the children while they play. However- we can still grill out (this is major for us) but according to hubby we would be eating next to our cars :(

Because the home is an older home we are concerned about heating costs. Older homes are notorious for their poor insulation and the realtor didn't seem to think that it had been updated. We live in a older hard to stay warm house now and it's not pretty. I'm sure it wouldn't be fun to do that in an 1860 2,700 sq ft Victorian either. PLUS, we prefer gas stoves. we've live with an electric stove before- yea the food gets cooked but a gas stove in ideal. And lastly, it's on a main (but not too busy) road.

And then there's this... It's almost everything the Victorian isn't. ALMOST.

HOUSE #2

There's only 3 bedrooms (as opposed to the five). The floors are really nice but the home has a very prominent oak wood presence. While this isn't the worse- it's not the best either.

The layout seems to be workable. I think we could enjoy living here.

But this has by far got to be the best part...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get to enjoy the great outdoors!! We'll need a grill, nice patio furniture and lots of sweet tea :)

What it really comes down to in indoor space vs. outdoor space and price. While we will only be able to use the outdoor space a few months out of the year (that I plan on extending by investing in a heat lamp or a fire pit) I think house number #2 is more economically sound for us. But I thought I would solicit your opinion. What do you think??

Random Ramblings

My thoughts are all over the place and I cannot form a coherent post to save my life! I have so much in my drafts but I feel like they aren't yet finished to be able to publish them. I know I have been absent from posting but I'm still around reading blogs and commenting here and there.

I think my inability to write is because I have a huge decision hanging over my head and it's actually taking up most of my thinking power. So here are a compilation of thoughts- bare with me please!


1. My son likes dogs. Whenever he sees one (weather he knows the doggy or not) he lights up! He starts laughing and giggling and reaches out to grab them. He even stuck his hand in the mouth of my sister-in- law's dog! Who does that?! My husband has been begging me since we got married to get a dog. Augh! I don't particularly care to live with one. I think when little bit starts walking and talking I'm going to get outnumbered. I'm thinking of ways to even the score back out.

2. I've been trying to update my posts. The ones already published. I've gone back to fix spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. sidenote: if you see a mistake tell me- I'm not one who doesn't like to be corrected grammatically- especially published material. An email will suffice (thanks!) More recently I updated this post- the thing is I'm not sure if I've ever told you. So go re-read (please) and plus I added pictures.

3.  I don't know how to reply to comments on a blog post. Plus, I think because my layout was all in HTML code the 'reply' feature is lost. Besides, I normally reply to comments via email because I do it from my phone. And, you don't even get notifications when someone replies to your comment right (or is that just me) and do you remember to go back to a comment you left just to see if there is a reply from someone? So please hop on over and read this post about being a no reply commenter. It would really help me out. I like talking to you all!

4. We're moving. This is a huge source of stress in my life right now (and hence my inability to write). It doesn't have to be but we are moving out of state about 3 to 4 hours away from where we currently are, the logistics of it hasn't yet been worked out, my husband is going first leaving us in 2 weeks, and this is the first time I've ever lived 'away' from my family. I think we will be living apart for approximately 6-8 weeks. :/

5. Remember when my celeb crush Tia Mowry was pregnant?! Well now older (twin) sister Tamera is expecting a baby this October!!! I love those twins. I'm still trying to catch up on Tia &Tamera episodes from this season.

6. Every year my church celebrates graduates by having 'Graduate and Achievement Sunday'. I love this day!!! We start with post bach degrees and honor every child's accomplishment down to daycare graduation. It's so cute to see the little ones excited over their standing ovation. They are always SO proud of their accomplishments. I think this is the breeding ground for a supportive community and things like this encourages children to do well.

And this ends my random nothings... I'm working on a real post though...

WW: Independence Day

Prayers please!

She'll probably kill me but.. I'm deciding to share this anyway. My bestie needs your prayers.

She's currently on bed rest in the hospital and she's taking up residence there until her little guy makes his debut. I can't put too much of her personal business out there (after all this is my blog and she didn't sign up for that, lol!) but we'd all appreciate it if you could send her your well wishes. She started having some issues around 24 weeks and things got a little worrisome. There were words like 'preterm labor', 'inducing early', and other pretty scary stuff. But, right now she's 29 weeks and still going with her little love bunny still on the inside.

The good news is- the baby is A-OK! He's growing perfectly and is snuggled in tight. I just hope it stays that way. She has a wonderful team of doctor's taking care of them both, so I'm prayerful that if it's 'all systems go' right now- they will be in good hands. I just don't like the situation at all. I know she's had good days and bad days but I think the good out weight the bad. And Plus- she has a wonderful hubby and great support system that's right by her side. Selfishly I'm hoping she'll go to 37 weeks so our babies can be birthday twins :) but if he bakes a little longer- I will not complain! Plus every week she's in the hospital I have any excuse to bake her some great confectionery treats!!

And just so this post isn't all depressive- here are a few pictures from her amazingly gorgeous wedding that I had a blast at!
                     

So, if you could take a moment and leave an encouraging comment for her (and her babe)- I'd greatly appreciate it!

Father's Day

I have a secret: the only reason I remembered to post about my Mother's Day is because I realized I never posted about Father's Day!

So here is our Father's Day re-cap photo dump. Now normally we would spend the day before Father's Day with hubby's family but we had a lot going on that weekend so this time EVERYONE headed over to my sister-in-law's for dinner which included my mom, dad, and brother =) It was so much fun spending time with everyone all together.

I feel bad that I didn't have the time to make hubby Father's Day breakfast- so I owe him one. But this time we made it to church on time. The problems started after church and the length of a meeting that I got sucked into. I'm not sure why the committees at my church INSIST on holding meetings on days like Father's Day I know these people have Father's in their lives to celebrate. So dinner was off to a way late start. But we all made it- and the rest of the evening looked like this...


Dads are in the pool while moms are on the grill...

I must note that my sister-in-law's pool is heated. So although it was 75 degrees outside it was 80 degrees in the water.

So my husband has this shirt that says "have you seen my zombie". Whenever you ask him this question this is the outcome...

The little guy had macaroni and cheese for the first time. I swear this is his "i like it' face!

Quality father son time

Trying not to burn dinner

This was me and the little guy's first time having s'mores! Yea, you read that right...

I love ending nights like this

And better late than never but Happy First Father's Day to my hubby...

And Happy First Grandfather's Day to my dad...

Mother's Day

I recently recieved the pleasure of celebrating my very first Mother's Day. If you know me then you know I was emotional all weekend! I can't believe that I am now a part of this elite group :)

My weekends are usually pretty hectic. And this particular weekend was no different. We had just gotten back into town (which I'm still not able to blog about just yet) so I was what you call 'travel tired'. You know that type of tired you get from slinging suitcases, travel documents, and sitting for any number of hours in kind of closed quarters. But I still got up at 7:30 am to make it to my Zumba class that's being held at my church. Zumba starts at 8 am every Saturday for 13 weeks (I miss sleeping in). After Zumba then men of my church hosted their annual Mother's day breakfast. Let me tell you- those guys can throw down in the kitchen! We had everything from fish and grits to turkey sausage and salmon cakes. I basically undid any progress I made at Zumba, lol! We had so much fun stuffing our faces! Plus I was able to catch up with a few people that I haven't been able to have a pow-wow with in a while.

We always spend the Saturday before Mother's Day with hubby's mom. She was extra excited this year because she had another grandbaby to celebrate with. We all met at hubby's sister's house for lunch. It was a perfect 80 degrees outside.

Isn't this awesome?! They have an in-ground heated pool so it really wasn't ridiculous that we went swimming! This was baby boy's full on first time in the pool. The last time we went "swimming" he just put his feet in because I forgot his swimmies (swim diaper). This time I remembered everything- sunscreeen, swimmies, and the most adorable new swimmer ever! Im not sure who had more fun- him or his dad! As long as dad was holding him- he had a blast!

He even got to play 'ball' with the big boys

After loads of good times, eating, and laughs, we ended the night. But not before enjoying some time by the fire.

Sunday morning, I was greeted by the best Mother's Day smile ever! I really enjoy waking up to my guys everyday. We headed off to church- really, really late. We did manage to get in some whole wheat pancakes and sausage for breakfast. But being late for church really threw me off because- my little guy and I performed for Mother's Day!

I did a poem about a Mother's Love:

Oh my little one I love you with a Mother's love

I pray my Mother's love will understand your tears
will soothe your disappointments and calm all of your fears.

I pray my Mother's love will share the joys you feel
When something you  have dreamed about quite suddenly becomes real.

I pray my Mother's faith will help you on life's way
And inspire you in confidence you'll need from day to day.

For a Mother's heart, and a Mother's faith, and a Mother's steadfast love
were fashioned by Angels and sent from God above

~author unknown


We both did pretty well- but I think he stole the show :) Everyone thought it was so adorable that all he wanted to do was play with the mic.

After church we headed over to my parents house for Mother's Day dinner, which I have absolutely no pictures. And since it took me forever and a year to post this I have absolutely no idea what we even had for mother's day dinner :(

I'm still in awe that I am now able to celebrate Mother's Day as a mommy :) It's a good thing that I wrote down last year's pre-mother's day celebration because my memory clearly serves no purpose.