Temps hitting 45!!
Well, finally the weather is starting to get a bit warmer! So, we headed to the park just at the end of the block. One nice thing, and there are many, about our area is that there are parks everywhere. I'm not kidding, you can't reach the end of a neighborhood block without hitting another park with slides, swings, you name it. Its a great attribute!
This month we have been completely consumed with house hunting. And hunting for a specific house we fell in love with. Essentially, they hadn't had an offer since they put the house on the market last October, and then suddenly the day that we saw it and decided that we wanted to put in an offer, so did someone else (of course, right!). So, we had to bid against them, and they won.
John and I were sad, but tried valiantely to press onward. Continue searching, nothing compared to that house. Well, then a couple of weeks later, we found out that they weren't really happy with that buyer and were willing to come back to our offer and break the contract with the first buyer. So, fine. Then the negotiating and haggeling over what they would include with the house, began. Ugh. John and I felt like we were in the middle of this really nit-picky stuff. Double ugh.
So, then last Saturday we had the home inspection. We found a couple of minor issues that we want fixed before we close (supposed to be April 29) and that was Tuesday, and.... nothing. Haven't heard a peep of a response from them all week. John and I are trying to remain patient, optimistic... give them their time. But, we also know that the next big hurdle is the home appraisal, which we get on Monday afternoon. If the home doesn't appraise for what we agreed to buy it for, then we are back to square 1, renegotiating everything from price, to closing closts, to home repairs.
Why is home buying such a PAIN!?? Seriously, it is a major test of patience!
And here in Illinois we have to hire attornies, so in order to talk to these people, we have to draft a letter with our attorney, who send it to their attorney, who sends it to their real estate agent, who send it to them. And somewhere in the mix is our real estate agent, who is also talking to their agent.
Anyway, you can see that this is all consuming. Hopefully it all works out!
Other news.... let's see.... Hayden is obsessed with putting the lids on things. Mostly water bottles. Loves to do it. Her other thing is shredding things (cotton balls, Q-tips, paper towels, etc... and then giving me them piece by piece. :) She's quite cute though, so I am content to sit there for 5 minutes and graciously accept each and every tiny piece.
She is running around with squeals of glee and excitement. She's pretty fast too. She has become quite lazy with coming down the stairs on her belly, she much rather prefers having someone with two legs carry her down. So, there's a minor cry-fest everytime we're headed downstairs and mommy doesn't want to carry her.
She is my little shadow, she doesn't really stray too far away from me. If I'm not in the living room playing with her on the floor, then she doesn't want to play, she prefers to have a seat in her kiddy-chair-thing on the counter and babble to me while I clean pots, or make lunch. And when I shower, she wants to be in the shower with me, so we shower together, we brush our teeth together (she likes to suck on the infant-toothpaste mostly), we put on make-up together (she loves to put nonexistant blush on with the big brush), we clean the house together, we pay bills online together, we make the bed together. I don't know if other kids are like this, but I keep expecting her to want to go explore or get into things somewhere, but not Hayden. She likes to stay close to me. And since she's pretty happy doing so, I guess I don't mind. I keep expecting an independent streak or exploratory streak to happen, and so far it hasn't.
She has learned the signs for "more" and "all done" and is great at using them. She also has learned to shake her head "no" which she does sometimes before the question is out of our mouths, and then has to quickly change gears and open her mouth wide for what she has just said "no" to. We are trying to teach her how to nod her head for "yes", but it isn't working yet. And her favorite food of the month is blueberries and raspberries. She is just like her father. :) She can down 30 raspberries in 15 seconds, not bothering to stop and chew.
I did try to cut her bangs which were hanging down into her face. But, since I have no skills with adults, it stands to reason that there's even less with toddlers. So, she swerved at the last minute and I cut several key locks of hair about 1 inch from the root. Oh well. it will all grow back, right? Lesson learned, next time to the kiddie hair cut place. But, at least we've got awhile before those pesky bangs grow back!!
And the one other thing she is working on right now, is drinking out of an adult glass on her own. She does good with the drinking, we're actually pretty impressed, but when she's done with the drink she just tips the -nonempty- glass upside down and hands it back to us. "all done" :)
This month we have been completely consumed with house hunting. And hunting for a specific house we fell in love with. Essentially, they hadn't had an offer since they put the house on the market last October, and then suddenly the day that we saw it and decided that we wanted to put in an offer, so did someone else (of course, right!). So, we had to bid against them, and they won.
John and I were sad, but tried valiantely to press onward. Continue searching, nothing compared to that house. Well, then a couple of weeks later, we found out that they weren't really happy with that buyer and were willing to come back to our offer and break the contract with the first buyer. So, fine. Then the negotiating and haggeling over what they would include with the house, began. Ugh. John and I felt like we were in the middle of this really nit-picky stuff. Double ugh.
So, then last Saturday we had the home inspection. We found a couple of minor issues that we want fixed before we close (supposed to be April 29) and that was Tuesday, and.... nothing. Haven't heard a peep of a response from them all week. John and I are trying to remain patient, optimistic... give them their time. But, we also know that the next big hurdle is the home appraisal, which we get on Monday afternoon. If the home doesn't appraise for what we agreed to buy it for, then we are back to square 1, renegotiating everything from price, to closing closts, to home repairs.
Why is home buying such a PAIN!?? Seriously, it is a major test of patience!
And here in Illinois we have to hire attornies, so in order to talk to these people, we have to draft a letter with our attorney, who send it to their attorney, who sends it to their real estate agent, who send it to them. And somewhere in the mix is our real estate agent, who is also talking to their agent.
Anyway, you can see that this is all consuming. Hopefully it all works out!
Other news.... let's see.... Hayden is obsessed with putting the lids on things. Mostly water bottles. Loves to do it. Her other thing is shredding things (cotton balls, Q-tips, paper towels, etc... and then giving me them piece by piece. :) She's quite cute though, so I am content to sit there for 5 minutes and graciously accept each and every tiny piece.
She is running around with squeals of glee and excitement. She's pretty fast too. She has become quite lazy with coming down the stairs on her belly, she much rather prefers having someone with two legs carry her down. So, there's a minor cry-fest everytime we're headed downstairs and mommy doesn't want to carry her.
She is my little shadow, she doesn't really stray too far away from me. If I'm not in the living room playing with her on the floor, then she doesn't want to play, she prefers to have a seat in her kiddy-chair-thing on the counter and babble to me while I clean pots, or make lunch. And when I shower, she wants to be in the shower with me, so we shower together, we brush our teeth together (she likes to suck on the infant-toothpaste mostly), we put on make-up together (she loves to put nonexistant blush on with the big brush), we clean the house together, we pay bills online together, we make the bed together. I don't know if other kids are like this, but I keep expecting her to want to go explore or get into things somewhere, but not Hayden. She likes to stay close to me. And since she's pretty happy doing so, I guess I don't mind. I keep expecting an independent streak or exploratory streak to happen, and so far it hasn't.
She has learned the signs for "more" and "all done" and is great at using them. She also has learned to shake her head "no" which she does sometimes before the question is out of our mouths, and then has to quickly change gears and open her mouth wide for what she has just said "no" to. We are trying to teach her how to nod her head for "yes", but it isn't working yet. And her favorite food of the month is blueberries and raspberries. She is just like her father. :) She can down 30 raspberries in 15 seconds, not bothering to stop and chew.
I did try to cut her bangs which were hanging down into her face. But, since I have no skills with adults, it stands to reason that there's even less with toddlers. So, she swerved at the last minute and I cut several key locks of hair about 1 inch from the root. Oh well. it will all grow back, right? Lesson learned, next time to the kiddie hair cut place. But, at least we've got awhile before those pesky bangs grow back!!
And the one other thing she is working on right now, is drinking out of an adult glass on her own. She does good with the drinking, we're actually pretty impressed, but when she's done with the drink she just tips the -nonempty- glass upside down and hands it back to us. "all done" :)
Comments
I haven't been to the bathroom by myself since 2001.
Seriously.
Each child will come wired differently. I've had the shadow child and the independent one. My baby is somewhere in the middle right now.
I can't believe your house-hunting woes. I actually felt some serious stress just reading that. Consuming on every level.
Love to follow your family and adventures. Does seem that long ago that we were single at the OC and trying to get on THE AMAZING RACE....! :)
JODY