Adventures in House Hunting

So we are officially starting our quest for home ownership. Sunday we went down to go to a few open houses. And here is what I learned: The Realtors price these houses. Price compare with different places!
All of the Century 21 homes we saw were priced between 90-124,000. They were all pieces of crap. I'm talking, a manufactured home out in the country that is literally dilapidated. There were crumbling foundations, huge water leaks, etc. These houses were the biggest junk heaps I've ever seen. THEN we went on a website for another realtor and the houses in the same price range were visibally much nicer and larger. I mean, much much much.
I thought that the housing market was supposed to be awesome right now. Geez.
Tomorrow we have an appointment with a guy from 1st Citizens Bank to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan. This guy does business with D's dad's business and wants to get more of D's Dad's business. So he'll be working really hard for us which is good.
Right now there's an $8000 tax cut for 1st time home buyers + our county is considered a rural area and we'd qualify for a loan that would cover 100% of costs and we wouldn't have to pay PMI. Our interest rate SHOULD be about 5.1%.
Our only problem is work history. D and I have always worked full-time, but because of school it hasn't been the same job for more than two years in a row. So that could be a factor. However, both of us have a credit score that's well into Excellent.
I'm excited and I'll let you know how it goes!

Weekend's Thoughts

This has been a crazy ride of a week. My husband has been tired from working so hard, I've been babysitting, writing for the paper and house stuff and two new lifes have come into this world.
I was finally able to meet little Tristan who is such a tiny gorgeous thing. Daniell is a very confident mother and I really think motherhood suits her. She says that Brandon is every bit the doting father we all thought he would be.
My friend's daughter will be laid to rest later this week, I think. My chest has been bursting with all these different emotions. As a mother, the mere thought of losing my son brings me to sobbing tears. Literally hundreds of people followed her journey on Friday and Saturday and hundreds of people are carrying a wound that will never compare to Holly's. I'm so heartbroken for her, but I also feel a kind of awe and a need to stand up straighter and be prouder because of her. I already told her, but because of her decision, her little girl got to kick and hiccup and live so much longer than what any other mother would have let her.
I am so proud to be a mother. There's no greater calling. Thinking of how much I love my husband and son still brings tears to my eyes. I don't think that I will ever be able to be grateful enough for eternal families. Hopefully I can appreciate them at least a portion of what they deserve.

Babies Babies Everywhere

This has been a very active couple of days for babies. First, last night, D's sister had her first baby, a healthy baby boy. And today, my friend Holly is being induced for her baby girl. Holly has a really cool blog that half of America reads about her daughter that is really worth checking out: carleighmckenna.blogspot.com
She's actually been updating her blog while waiting. What a woman!
Being at the hospital last night where P was born really took Dustin and me down memory lane. The whole journey of finding out he was coming, being amazed that we made a person and telling our families all the way down to him being born. There are few things in this life that we will remember with EXACTNESS. Other things tend to get fuzzy and blurred but the feeling is still there. After P was delivered most things were fuzzy, literally, as I had the drug Staydol that basically knocked me out and made me woozy. But, I remember with perfect clarity my baby's face when they put him in my arms.
P only gave three cries. That was it. Then they gave him to me and he had the most serene and intensely focused look in his eyes that I have ever seen. I can still see them even with my eyes open. He didn't cry again in the hospital unless he got a shot but spent most of his time looking around at everything. Anyone who knows my son won't be too surprised. He's the same way now except mobile.
Babies are such miracles! I couldn't imagine seeing one and not believing in God and the gifts He gives us as our Father.
Picture: P 5 minutes after he was born:

P's FIRST Haircut

I thought he was perfect, but D insisted that it was time for P to look a little more "kept". Friday we were walking around the mall with my parents after dinner and since we were already there, my husband whisked my baby off to MasterCuts. I was, of course, totally neurotic so I decided that to keep from driving the girl crazy I'd get my haircut by someone else. P sat on daddy's lap and so he could be held. P was very still just like when I comb his hair and the end result was very nice. MasterCuts also gave us a few of his curls along with a balloon, a tattoo and a certificate. All of this will go quite nicely in my scrapbook where I can compare P and D's first curls.

My hair didn't turn out so nice so there aren't any pictures of it. I asked for a trim and told the girl it was a long A-line and she gave me a mullet. Yeah, total opposite. I didn't notice at first because I refuse to pay extra to blowdry it and had to go back Saturday where I was already busy and ended up missing out on some other plans. My hair is a few inches shorter than I wanted but I got an extra free haircut and a half off haircut. But it looks better.

P's Week

We had a big week this week! First, P started going to Storytime at the library. They read (of course) and sing songs and do activities. It's actually really fun because it's a good way for him to be around other children. And I love to see him play! His first time he was really shy and sat on my lap the whole time, but the second time he got up and sat with the other children during the story and participated in the activities.

Then since the weather was beautiful we decided to the park and play! He's so funny when he gets outside because he YELLS really loud.

When it got cold outside we decided there was no reason to not have fun inside! P loved his fort and had to have the couch pillows inside. What a funny baby!

What's that? A hat?

Did you know that the government takes 40% of a bonus for taxes? That is something that we've learned with my husband's job. It's been weird for me since August not going out and working because since we've been married I've always been the "breadwinner" and worked full-time and D went to school and/or worked. I even had P with me at my last job. So I've decided to add a few more hats to being a stay-at-home-momma:

1. I work for my father in law one day a week to pay bills.
2. I'm a photojournalist for the local newspaper and do human interest pieces.
3. I babysit about 20 hours a week for a two month old baby boy. It's so fun to see P around him!

It's not a whole lot, but I feel like I'm contributing financially at least a little bit. All the sacrifices we've had to make so far have been so worth it to be able to stay at home with P. It's truly been wonderful to not miss anything!

He's a MIME

So P has been a little mime lately. He takes rags and washcloths and washes the walls and floors, dusts, followes me around with his toy vacuum. Well, I have to clean a lot, he's a very messy eater. Yesterday he learned to put chalk on a pool cue at the Brooks' and today he mimicked my dad doing a cheesy (sorry) magic trick. He's truly amazing and it's VERY intimidating. I'm always worried about what he'll copy next. His potential is endless.
P usually has favorites in the people that he goes to. Today it was Camilla and he just kept getting closer and closer to her until he finally planted a big kiss on her. I was a little jealous since he's been stingier with kisses. He also has been following around his Uncle Nick and it's really cute. Anyway, the purpose of this blog is to gush a little and post a couple more pictures. By the way, I don't know what it is with that police car...

I might get in trouble for this later...

So yesterday my mother-in-law, and I took P with us on a mini shopping trip to Marion. Mini, because it is Marion. Mostly we wanted to look at scrapbooking stuff at Hobby Lobby. Anyway, for the love of scrapbooking, we took lots of pictures of P who will be really mad at me in about 12 years if anyone sees this. So I'll share now before I get into trouble!


P.S. We got him a balloon as a reward that he has not stopped playing with. I actually had to change his diaper while he held onto the string!