House answers

I guess my post about selling our house confused several people, so I thought I would clarify.

We had been planning on selling for a few years now. The original plan was to build a new house, but that got thrown out the window when I lost my job.

We still wanted to move/sell, but decided that it had to happen this Spring for numerous reasons. The biggest ones being that we wanted Julia to go to Miami East school, we wanted her to start there. We also wanted to live closer to family. Currently it is a 50 minute drive to my parent's and a 35-40 minute drive to Jerrod's parent's. I also really wanted to get out of the city. I am just not made for city life. Too many people and lights. Our current house really has no good place for the kids to play at outside. We really wanted something with a yard. One of other major reasons the move is happening now, is because with me being unemployed, our mortgage is just too high. We wanted to reduce our payments.

At first, we thought this meant we were going to have to live in an apartment for a year or two, but then a great opportunity came up! Jerrod's parent's found a house not far from them up for sale on land contract. Basically, you make a down payment, pay rent for 5 years (rent goes towards the principal on the house), and then at the end of the 5 years you get a loan for the remainder of the principal and you own the house!

We looked at the house. Other than the house being pretty small, it was everything else we could have wanted. It is in the country on almost an acre of land, it is in Miami East SD, it is MUCH closer to family, it is a house, not an apartment, and it really reduces our monthly payment! We liked it so much that we asked the seller if we paid the down payment, would he hold it for us up to 6 months so we have time to sell our house. He agreed!

So.... We should have our house ready to sell by spring and we have a new house waiting on us!

Like I said, the house is small, it is only 2 bedrooms, but it is something we can deal with for several years. It does have 2 full baths. There is a sunroom that could actually be a third bedroom or a playroom. It has an oversized 2-car garage (we currently so not have a garage and I HATE that on snowy days), it also have a HUGE barn in the back. So storage is not an issue.

The new house is stuck in the 70's with it's decor, as in gold/yellow kitchen sink and countertops and one bedroom has purple shag carpet! The kitchen/dining room has green carpet, but the seller said he would replace it at his cost. I even get to pick out what I want it replaced with! I will replace it with pergo flooring, not carpet! The house has good construction, so I can deal with the decor. It is minor and can be changed later.

Speaking of changes. The seller said we could make any changes to the house we wanted, even add onto it if we wanted. All we have to do is run the changes past him first.

The seller was super nice and could tell he really had a soft heart. (He lives next door and has a business next door. This was his parent's house.) We talked/discussed a lot of things with him and found him very caring and understanding to our needs. We explained that we are quiet people and the most they would hear from us would be our kids screaming/playing and toys everywhere. He said nothing would warm his heart more than to look over and see kids playing in the yard.

He had one set of renters in the house before that he ended up having to evict, so he was leery of people wanting the house now, but he said that he felt really good about us and could tell that we would not give him any trouble.

Here are a few pictures of the new place.



There you can see the barn in the back.


The tiny kitchen! (It will be the FIRST major change I make.)



The purple shag.... Julia LOVES it!


The main bath, with a FULL sized tub. (We have a smaller than normal tub now.)


The BIG utility room/second bath.


We are excited and rushing to get our house ready to sell.

Internet/Interstate

Every time I drive on the interstate, Julia says "I don't want to go on the internet!"

She means the interstate, but for some reason she always calls it the internet.

We never even heard on the internet when we were her age. (Was it even invented yet?)

Baby dolls

Julia loves her baby dolls. She has 3 of them that have to sleep with her every night. However, the first one she ever got is still her favorite. I spied this the other night.....

Happy boy

I really think Jude would have to be seriously sick or unconscious before his disposition changes.

This weekend he came down with croup. By Monday his cough was really barky and his breathing was labored. I almost took him to the ER, but was able to get into the dr.'s office. Dr. added a steroid to his breathing treatments.

Through it all Jude was smiling and laughing. You could tell he was really sick, but he did not show it. He is just so happy all the time. He even likes his breathing treatments! (Julia took the first two pictures!)



See him smiling behind the mask?

Getting ready to sell

Jerry, Debbie and I walked through the house today to make a list of all that needs to be done before our house can be put on the market. It was quite a list. Most of it was minor stuff, but it is still going to take time. I really hope we can have it ready in 3 months time. Spring is the perfect time to sell this house. It is on a wooded lot and it is gorgeous here in the Spring time with everything blooming.

In the meantime, I will start boxing up items we down immediately use so we can reduce the clutter in the house. So now I need boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. Luckily, we have a place to store all this stuff.

Gingerbread house

Last year Julia and I made a Gingerbread house. She had so much fun doing it, that I thought we would do it again.

This year's kit was a little different from last year's, but we made it work. Julia especially liked sampling the icing.

She is showing it off with icing on her face and showing everyone her gingerbread man tattoo.

Must be a boy thing...

You would think I never watch my kids with all the mischief Jude gets into. I think it is a boy thing. Julia was NEVER like this as a baby/toddler. It must just be a boy thing. I am glad I only have one boy. My poor sister has THREE boys! I don't know how she is not completely grey by now!

Up to his usual antics!

Stinker!

We normally keep the baby gate between the living room and the kitchen closed. The cat food is just too tempting for Jude.

Occasionally Julia will open the gate without me knowing it. This is what happens when she does...

Notice how BOTH of Jude's pajama feet are wet? He was having a blast dunking his feet in the cat's water bowl!



I cannot turn my back on him for 2 seconds without him getting to something!

At least this was an easy mess to mop up.

She cut her hair!

We took Julia to go see "Tangled" in the theater on Saturday. It was a story about Rapunzel. Julia loved the movie.

Well, she took the movie to heart a little too much. This morning she took a scissors to her hair. When asked why she cut it, she replied "Rapunzel had to cut her hair to get away from the bad fairy godmother, so I cut my hair so the bad fairy godmother would not get me.".

Julia got lectured from several people about how she is not allowed to cut her hair or her brother's hair. She got the scissors by pushing a chair up to the cabinet, climbing on the cabinet and getting into her craft bag.

This is how her hair looked about 3 weeks ago before we got it cut.


This is how it looked 2 weeks ago, after we had haircuts. I thought it was a very cute bob.


This is how her hair looked this morning after she cut it!



Part of the hair I found on the floor...


Barrie, our hairdresser, was able to squeeze her in today to fix it. It is still cute, but I like it longer on her. It also makes her look much older!

Owls

A local nature educational center recently visited Julia's preschool. This nature center rehabs animals and the animals that cannot be released back into the wild get used as part of their educational programming. This program was teaching the preschoolers about Owls.

They brought two owls for the kids to see.



Julia was super excited about these owls coming and it was all she talked about for two days.

I would say she was into the program!



She was also excited that Mommy got to come see the owls too!


After the owl program was done, the kids sang some songs to the parents.




Jude was just thrilled he got to play with all the preschool toys. He wants to play with them every time we drop Julia off.

Bedtime

Jude and Julia are so different when it comes to going to bed.

With Jude, he waves bye, blows kisses and is ready. He will not even let me rock him at bedtime anymore! I will get a couple seconds of rocking before he will point to his crib and say "that, that". Once in his crib, he cuddles with his blanket and is happy. If he is not tired enough to go right asleep, he is content to just quietly play until he does fall asleep.

Julia, on the other hand, fights going to bed with every fiber of her being. When we finally do manage to get her in her pajamas and in her bed, she will repeatedly get out of bed. I know she is tired, but she refuses to go to sleep. On the nights she actually stays in her bedroom after being tucked in, I will discover the next morning that she has gotten out LOADS of her toys and played with them instead.

Julia can make bedtime very stressful some nights.

Table dancer?

I really hope this is not a career in the making for Jude!

A couple of weeks ago, Jude stripped off his diaper, climbed up on the coffee table, grabbed his butt and started dancing!! ACK!! Once I got my camera, he sat down and acted like nothing happened.....


Now almost every night, Jude will climb up on the coffee table and dance. Luckily, he usually has clothes on for it now. I think he just likes being the center of attention for once! He knows he has to do something dramatic to divert attention away from Julia.

15 month check-up

Okay, I am VERY late posting this.

Jude had his 15 month check-up almost a month ago. Pediatrician pronounced him healthy and happy! He weighed 25 lbs, 10 oz; which is about the 70th percentile. He was 32.5" long, which is around the 90th percentile. That is my big boy!! I think he takes after my family; tall and solid! I don't remember what his head circumference was and I forgot his little book to wright it down in, but I think it was around the 60th to 70th percentile. His length stayed on the same curve, but his weight continued to jump up. I am not surprised considering how much food this kid eats!

The pedi was pleased with his development and could tell that both kids were really active.

Ballet dancer

Julia is in Ballet class. She enjoys it. The parent's no longer stay in the studio with them during the class. We wait on the benches in the main part of the Rec Center. They did a mini show for us parent's a few weeks ago and I was blown away with all the moves Julia could do!

Piano playing

This is a picture from this summer, but this is still a common sight at our house! Both kids LOVE "playing" the piano. They will both get lessons when they get big enough, but right now Mimi is giving the lessons.

Recent crocheting projects

What little free time I do have, I enjoy crocheting. I no longer try to crochet blankets, because I don't have the time for that.

This summer/fall I started doing dishcloths. This is a bad picture, but you get the idea. I think I will give them out as Christmas gifts.


Then I got tired of doing dishcloths, and came across a free pattern for a prayer shawl. Jerrod's grandma has been ill off and on and I know she is frequently cold, so I decided to make one for her. I used a really silky, satiny yarn. I think it turned out well and she seemed to really like it.




After that was finished, I thought I would make a poncho for Julia. She picked out the yarn she wanted me to use and I made it. About the only time I got to work on it was the 30 minutes during her swim lessons. After several weeks, I finally finished it. I had her try it on this morning. Excuse the pj's and bed head, but it was early yet. I made it slightly big so she could wear it over heavier clothes.


I am making myself one out of the same pattern. Although, I will be using different color yarn.

I have a few more projects I want to do, but we will see if I find the time to do them.

So much easier.

After over 2 weeks, 2 urine collections, 1 culture, many accidents, and some crying, it was finally determined that Julia DID have a UTI. Started antibiotics and she is doing much better.

Julia loves the medicine and will ask to take it multiple times a day. This makes life so much easier than trying to force it in her. The only other time she need antibiotics, I had to wrap her in a towel, force her mouth open and force the medicine down her, all the while she fought me. It was like a rodeo ride!

I like this way MUCH better.

I have been very lucky with my kids and them being really healthy. Sure, they get the occasional cold, but this is only the second time in Julia's life she has needed antibiotics and Jude has never had to have them yet.

Maybe someday...

Maybe someday I will be able to leave the house without snot or food or any number of things the kids always manage to get on my clean clothes before I make it out the door.

Good thing I am not vain about my appearance. I just chalk it up to being a mom.

"Moooooo"

"Moooooooo"

Jude's loves mooing like a cow.

"Moooooooo"

Horse rides!

I have a HUGE backlog of pictures from this summer, so be forewarned.

Julia loves fairs. We went to several. At the Miami County fair, they had pony rides. Julia had always been terrified of horses. Well, she saw these ponies and just watched them for several minutes. She saw other kids riding them and walked closer. Finally after about 10 minutes of her watching them, I asked if she wanted to ride them. She got all excited and jumping saying "Yea!".

I thought for sure she would get scared, but she walked right up to them and let the lady put her on one without a fuss. She enjoyed the ride and wanted to do it again! I told her one ride was enough for now.

I am still shocked at Julia. Gone is my super shy, super scared little girl!

Mmmm... Cake

Julia loves helping me cook and bake. She especially loves making cakes and cupcakes because she gets to help decorate them.

Made a cake with Julia last weekend. She really helped decorate it. She picked out the color, mixed the icing, put on the M&M's, and more. This was my first attempt at a two-layer cake. I think it turned out great. Julia was very proud of it!


Jude thought it tasted GREAT!

Skid-loader rides!

On Saturday we took pictures as the extended family. My parents, my siblings, their kids and us. That was 10 adults, 1 six year old, 3 three year olds, 3 one year olds and a baby. We knew going in that we would not get any great pictures, but hoped we would just get one with everyone looking at the camera. I think they turned out okay. I also had the photographer take photos of Jerrod, me and the kids, and some of just Julia and Jude. I think I might have gotten some cute ones of the kids, but I think our family picture was a dud. Oh well.

At one point, my dad wanted a picture of all the grandkids with him and the skid-loader. It was really cute. He was sitting it in holding 3 kids, a couple were in the bucket, and Julia was sitting behind the bucket.

After we were done with pictures all of the kids wanted rides in the skid-loader. Grandpa was happy to indulge them. I was surprised Julia wanted a ride, because she has always refused before and seemed afraid of it. I think it was because all of her cousins wanted to ride. Peer pressure at it's best!

Race results!

Checked the website that had the results of the 5K race. I finished in 26th place; 4th place for my age group. They also had a picture of me as I was about to cross the finish line. I'm not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed by it! LOL

First 5K race!

I have not really posted about the fact I took up running a couple of months ago. I did not know if I would actually stick to it and I could only run small distances, so I did not want to embarrass myself.

Well, I have stuck to it! I used the Couch 2 5K program, which has you gradually increasing distance until you can run a 5K. It is designed for people like me who have never run before. It starts out having you do intervals of run 60 seconds, walking 90 seconds. I figured it would be a piece of cake, after all, how hard could it be to run 60 seconds. It turns out, for me, it was really hard. I was panting and wheezing after each 60 second run!

I have never run before and hated running. It was a real struggle to find the willpower to actually do it the first several weeks. I also refused to run in 90 degree heat, so there were some weeks this summer where I was lucky to get one workout in.

But I stuck to it and started running more as the weather cooled a bit. It finally got to the point where I no longer disliked running. I still don't love it, but I also no longer dread it.

Several weeks ago I finally finished the program and could run an entire 5K without stopping, while pushing the kids! This is the first time I have ever actually completed an exercise program!

To help keep myself motivated, I signed up for a 5K race. This gave me something to work towards. My goals for the race were; 1) not to embarrass myself, 2)run the entire thing without walking, 3)Finish in under 40 minutes.

Well, the race was yesterday! I shocked myself by surpassing all my goals! This was a hard race because it was at John Bryan Park, which has a lot of huge hills, so I was thrilled with the results. I ran the entire thing, finishing with a time of 33:26. That is the fastest I have every run a 5K!! It was only 38 degrees out when I got there, but I like it on the cool side when I run.

I had Jerrod take a picture of me when I got home from the race. (He stayed home with the kids.) I am still way overweight, but I am in the best shape of my life!


I started doing this for many reasons. Mainly, I wanted to be able to keep up with my kids without being short of breath while doing it. I also was frustrated with trying to find clothes in Plus sizes.

I have reached several of my goals. I can now keep up with the kids, I fit into Misses' clothing sizes again, and I can run an entire 5K. Now I just need to work on losing more weight. I think I have lost about 20 pounds so far, but I have a lot to go yet.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a runner or do what I am doing. I guess it just proves that anything is possible!