Friday, May 29, 2009

The new house

In an earlier post I said if we got the new house I would give details later. So we got the house, as you all know, and it is later. Our new house will be 1223 square feet on the top and the bottom will be close to 1200 square feet. The basement will be unfinished until we save up enough to go ahead and finish it out. It is a split bedroom floor plan and has 2 full baths. The entire house will be electric, which apparently is typical for Branson as winters are not as bad in Branson as many other areas, and electrical in this area is also more economical. This time we actually get a laundry room, yippee! Even though this house will be slightly more in cost than our last home, ironically our payments will be the same because rates are much lower than they were when we bought our Springfield home. We are just hoping and praying that rates stay low for at least another month for we can not lock our rate in until 60 days before closing. It amazes me that we are getting twice the house, brand new, and will still be paying the same payments for it. God is amazing.

So anyhoo....that's our new home in a few short months.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The lot
























































Well here is our lot. It is kind of catty cornered on the end of a culdesac. A few shots kind of show that we have a little view of a hill with lots of trees. It is heavily wooded, but we are hopeful that they will take as few trees out as possible so we can have a really cool shaded back yard. There is a slope behind where our house will be placed. We think it does level off and the slope isn't too bad (it's hard to tell because of all the brush and trees). I love the little street lamps. I think they are so cute. We are sooooo excited. They were supposed to break ground Tuesday, but it has been rainy here so I guess we're already behind schedule. In due time. For now, we are just dreaming and basking in the reality that we will finally have a NEW house and it will finally fit our needs! Someone pinch me:) Praise you sweet Jesus for your blessings.

Month of May give or take

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Moving along

As most of you know since my last post, we sold the house! Our closing date is June 26th. God really blessed it and sold it after only one showing in less than 24 hours. We're thinking this was our "sign" that we are making the right decision to move forward with the Branson move. We got approval for a government loan and went shopping on Friday. There was not much available in our price range that fit our needs. The three houses we did look at were in need of new carpet and paint and two needed a new roof and reeked of smoke. There wasn't much for back yards which we expected for the Ozark hill country. Needless to say, it was very depressing.

Fortunately, there was a decent neighborhood that had a culdesac with houses that are about to be built. The price was just at what we could afford. So....we put in a contract. We will probably not know if we got it until the Tuesday but we have every reason to think it will get accepted since we offered a full price offer. The only reason we may not have gotten it is if someone beat us too it. Good news is that there are 2 houses to be built in that culdesac that are for sale which fit our needs, so we have pretty good odds of getting at least one of them....we hope.

We are so excited. If we get the house, I'll give you the details later. But for now, we are just optimistic that we may actually get a home that doesn't need fixing up. We've always had to redo the houses we have lived in. This will be such a welcome change. Probably the only downfall is that we will have to find temporary housing for the next 2-3 months until it is finished, but that will be worth it in the long run.

In other news, Brennan is starting to sit up. She still needs to be surrounded by pillows because she often topples over, but she can do it all by herself without me now, so it has been exciting to watch. Kadyn is in love with Silver Dollar City. We went two times last week and we still haven't been through the entire park. There really is a lot for kids her age to do. I'm definitely going to have to make some other mommy friends there because it would be very difficult to go by myself with the two girls.

Well there's our news. Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Week One

My first official week with no Liam. WONDERFUL! Surprisingly, Kadyn hasn't even missed him. We've kept very busy working on the house together to get it ready for showings. Kadyn has helped me plant flowers, pick up sticks, cook meals, and entertain Brennan. As long as I find something for her to do, she is completely content. It's been great!

As she has gotten older I have noticed that taking naps is so hit and miss. Half the times she will lay on her bed and play around the entire nap time. Other times she is completely out for the entire period. It seems more and more naps are just starting to disappear. So....I decided to try no naps and create what I call quiet time instead. I bought her an alarm clock. I set the alarm to go off in 45 minutes. She is instructed to play quietly in her room for that time. This still gives me a break and makes Kadyn learn how to play by herself which is something she needs to learn without Liam around anyways. I can't entertain her 24/7. She has done amazingly well with this. Instead of her asking every 10 minutes whether nap time is over, she just stays in there and plays and waits until the alarm goes off and then she knows she can come out.

Surprisingly she did very well not having naps for the 4 days we did quiet time until last night when she was very cranky and naughty, so I figured that an entire week of no naps was finally catching up with her. The punishment....a nap today; she was out like a light. There was no complaining and no fighting it, it was great. Tomorrow I think I will go back to quiet times; I think I'll just throw a nap in whenever it seems necessary; it's so much easier than fighting her on taking one everyday when she may not even need it that day, like I said, it's hit and miss. It's going to be a lot easier for us to show the house if Kadyn isn't taking naps anyways. Of course Brennan still needs them, but I can usually get her to fall asleep in the van pretty easily.

In other news, Kadyn finally learned how to swing all by herself on her swingset. She is so proud of herself, and I'm relieved to not have her always whining at me to push her. Best part is, she enjoys pushing Brennan in the baby swings, so I don't have to push either one anymore, and I can just work on gardening while the two of them have a ball on the swingset. Brennan just adores Kadyn. I LOVE our backyard. It is so perfect for kids. It's safe and private. I'm really going to miss it.

The sign went up in our yard today so I guess we're officially on the market. It was a big push to get everything ready in time, but we did it and for the first time in 3 years our house if FINALLY DONE. From head to two inside and outside the house looks fantastic. I hope is sells quickly.

I got season passes to Silver Dollar City for Mother's Day so we thought we would go their tomorrow. I must say, it's going to be fun living in a resort town. Once we're all moved an settled, my faithful readers ought to know that they are welcome anytime. We will have plenty to keep you busy and entertained if you come visit.

So there's our news. Until next time.....toodles!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Moving on

Friday was a rough day. It was supposed to be my last day with Liam, but tornadoes prevented him from even coming. We never got to really say goodbye. Brutus went to his new home Friday evening. That was hard. It was weird not hearing the clicking of his toenails around the house. It was weird not seeing his stuff. It was weird not seeing him playing ball in our backyard with our daughter. It was hard catching myself wanting to call out his name every time we dropped food on the floor. There was a certain emptiness in our house and a certain quiet without him here. As sad as it was, I still am so happy for him. The family we picked for him couldn't be more perfect. The little 12 year old boy is in love with him and referring to himself as Brutus's "Daddy." Apparently Brutus is already quite smitten with him as well. He is have a little trouble adjusting to being one of two dogs in the house but his human mom thinks it's going pretty well considering. Needless to say, I feel that we did the right thing and God almost handpicked this family to take in our lil' man. We will miss him but it will be a lot less chaotic not having to care for him and deal with his many issues. His new human mom is giving us updates which warm my heart.

In other news we are still plugging away on the house and hope to have pictures done on Wednesday so we can have it listed shortly thereafter. Jeff has been working on on the kitchen cabinets and just finished those up today. He will start on the bathroom tomorrow and finish up the garage and yard Monday and Tuesday. We both realize that finding another home which is larger and doesn't require any work may not be possible at this point on our budget. We are willing to paint walls and have new carpet laid, but that is the extent of what we are willing to do this time. Time will tell what God has in store for us. Some days I'm really strong and it seems easy to trust in him, other days I get consumed with fear and worry. It is a test of my faith to say the least.

Just being a mom and nothing else excites me and the same time I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt for not bringing in money to help out. I know it is the right decision for our girls, so we don't regret it. But when I look to such uncertainty in our future, I can easily become overridden with guilt for not doing more. It is something that I will work through in my own way and own time I suppose.

Well anyhoo...better tend to my little ladies. Signing off, for now.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Saying goodbye, drip drip.

We have come to the decision that it is time for our dog Brutus to live with another family. Since the addition of our daughters, Brutus's behavior has been less than desirable. He is having very bad separation anxiety issues, house training issues, and other numerous behavior problems that just seem to be getting worse. We both feel that this stems from the fact that he just isn't getting as much attention as he once was and his needs are getting neglected. We do feel a certain amount of guilt, and yet we feel like our decision is for him. We want him to have a family who have time to throw his ball outside for an hour each night and take him for walks on leisure weekends. We rarely have time for those things anymore. And to his credit, we often forget to let him out because we are so caught up tending to the girls' needs, so it makes sense that I would be cleaning up more accidents in the house. We have also found about 80% of the homes in Branson don't have backyards because of all the hills. Brutus loves his backyard. I'm not sure how we would go about letting him out to use the restroom with no backyard. We would be unable to play with him in the backyard. Brutus LIVES to play ball.

As much as he drives me insane sometimes, I still love him. He has seen me through some tough times. I feel I owe this too him. I refuse to feel guilty or like I am giving up on him. Instead I see it as another chapter in his story where he can be continued to be loved and cared for. We listed him on the Dachshund rescue website and prayed about it. Within two days we found the perfect fit. A single mother of a 12 year old boy is looking for another dog to add to her family. She already has a boxer who loves other dogs and wants to find a companion for him as well. She is sooo excited and so perfect for Brutus; she grew up with weiner dogs so is very aware of their many quirks. I forewarned her of all the issues we have had and she is willing and ready to take them on. She sounds so lovely and like she will make a great fur mom for our little man and is even offering to come visit when they are in the area so we can see him every now and then and to send us updates.

This has been a hard week as I will miss him even though he tests my patience on a daily basis. He was our first baby after all. But I have a good feeling about this all and I know we are making the right decision for him and for us. No one gets a dog thinking that they will get rid of him. There was no way of knowing how Brutus would react to the additions in our family. I think there will come another time in our lives when we will have another dog but I feel that will be a long time from now when I am no longer having to take care of my childrens basic needs. My dog DJ growing up was a big part of my life, I don't want my kids to miss out on that. I've got to think it would easier for a dog to come into a family whose done growing rather than go into a family that keeps adding on members.

So dear Brutus, know that we love very much, but are happy that you can continue your life in a place where you can be well cared for and loved. We will miss you lil' man. Drip...drip....drip!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Countdown....work, work, work

We met with our realtor yesterday. Our goal has been to have the house ready to be listed by the end of the month. He told us we need to get it up within a week. He doesn't want us to miss out on the "best buyers." Apparently now is the perfect time to sell. We were hoping we could get by without repainting and replacing the hardware on our kitchen cabinets but apparently it will be worth our while. I'm still skeptical as other houses in our price range do not have NEAR the improvements we have done to ours. We are already miles ahead of them. Since we have lived here we have replaced our roof, all floors in the ENTIRE house, repainted every wall, every ceiling, every door, every baseboard, replaced the tub, vanities in both bathrooms, sinks, faucets, replaced the gutters, replanted both back and front yards twice, landscaped, had the trees trimmed, had a tree removed, rewired and created a space for the laundry, changed EVERY light fixture, put up halfwall paneling in both bathrooms, changed out all 2 pronged outlets to 3 pronged outlets, replaced all light switch sockets, replaced all floor vents, replaced all door knobs and door hardware, power washed the house, fence, and deck, made a storage shed, had pipes under the house repaired, leaky faucets fixed, soft spots in floors repaired and probably more that I can't remember at the moment. We are TIRED of fixing up this home!

Anyhoo.....we have our work cut out for us in one weeks time. Still on our list: sand, prime, and repaint all kitchen doors and drawers (frames are done, go Jeff!), do the same to all the bathroom cabinets, replace all hardware, finish touching up baseboards, fill holes in walls and touch up, finish cleaning and organizing garage, clean flower beds and remulch,clean up both back and front yards, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's a lot to do in such little time and I'm already so tired. We have been going to bed too late. Between working and just trying to take time for ourselves it's hard to go to bed. I'm starting to feel the repercussions of it all. A big thankyou goes out to Blake Lewis for his sweet jams that give me enough energy to keep going.

Well enough procrastinating. The baseboards, a paintbrush, and can of paint are calling me in the bedroom. Hopefully this time next week we can just sit down, kick up our feet and watch a movie with a finished house just in time to start having to up and leave on short notice for showings. Lovely....

Dear Lord I hope we don't get another fixer upper after this. We need a break!