It has been so busy. I wish I had updated during the past few weeks, but there has been no time. So here I am at 11:30 at night trying to throw together an update and get photos uploaded. So where did we leave off, my loving readers? It seems I haven’t posted pictures and their corresponding stories since Princess Wishes. Has it really been that long. Well, okie dokie, artichokie. I am attempting to add the links back to the pictures to take you to the page where all the photos live for each event. So if you want to see more pics from an event, click on the pic. Here you go:
September 9, 2006 - Happy Birthday & Hey how are ya?!
It amazes me how quickly these kids are growing! We celebrated Maria’s fourth birthday at The Little Gym. The kids had a complete blast. There was a face painter, cake and drinks, the biggest Ariel pinata ever and the usual Little Gym activities which both Isabella and Nicholas participated in. Nicholas loves the bars at the gym. He walks beside them and swings around and has a great time. Isabella wore her Princess crown and her and Laney got their faces painted together (something they do often together now that I think about it!)
The same night we went out to visit the Sampsons at their house. The boys had a great time playing together and Isabella kept them both entertained. Isabella chased Finn back and forth through the house which Nicholas found quite amusing. This was one of the breaks of well being in our house which was much needed during our Sickout of 2006.
September 16, 2006 - UCF, Let’s Go Knights!
Isabella loves to be a cheerleader. It was finally a Saturday game and a beautiful day so Isabella and Nicholas and I joined Tim for tailgating for UCF. There was lots of food and lots of people watching which satisfied both of our kids. Nicholas looked so handsome in his white polo just like Daddy. Isabella had her UCF cheerleading uniform on. During various times she would all of a sudden stop and yell at the top of her lungs “U-C-F. Go Knights!” It was so cute.
September 27, 2006 - Neighborhood Day
Anchor Academy has a Neighborhood Day each year where they turn the gym into a mock neighborhood. This year, Mrs. Kelly’s class was in charge of the beauty salon. As a parent, I volunteered to paint nails and put on tatoos then walk Isabella through the shops and booths. I had kept Isabella out of school for the week that week due to a stomach virus and she was so happy to return. It was so funny to walk her into school that day (late so all the kids were already out on the playground.) All the kids came running to the fence yelling “Isabella, Isabella, it’s Isabella.” You’d think the kid was a celebrity. It made me laugh.
Septempber 29, 2006 - Nicholas turns 10 months old!
Nicholas turned 10 months old on Friday. Papa came down to visit and spent the morning with us at Little Gym class and then lunch with Granny. Two weeks before, we took him to the dr’s and she said he had double ear infections (his first, poor bean) so he had been on antibiotics. He had stopped them a few days before his birthday but was getting progressively crankier. Even on this day he just didn’t want to deal with Little Gym or playing or nothing. All he wanted was for Mama to hold him. During the weekend his ears started weeping again and I knew that the ear infections, which I had believed to have started with a sinus infection, had not cleared up and was confirmed the following week during an appointment with our dr.
Speaking of our pediatrician, we’ve decided to switch. Our doc has been great, but she’s a good 25 minutes away from our house. During the last 6 weeks we have had a doctor’s visit every single week and it’s taking a chunk out of my morning which then adds a chunk to my evening, which with a non-sleeping baby is not a good thing. Also, during his follow up appt, she looked at his ears, said he still had the ear infections and then went in to clean one of his ears and ended up scraping the ear and it started bleeding… lots. There are few things I really don’t handle well and my babies bleeding is one of them. I don’t blame her in the sense that I want to make sure no child ever goes to her, but it’s really hard to get past the whole blood thing. So I think it’s time for us to part ways. Let’s just say that 2 weeks later, I’m much more calm about the whole thing. I’m especially going to miss the nurse at the office who I adore. It’s really hard to leave a place that has seen both of our children since birth.
And so October begins…
October 3, 2006 - To the zoo with you two
We celebrated our 8 year anniversary on the first with a new mattress purchase. Now even if both kids get in bed with us, Tim and I are not kicked out. Isn’t that fabulous! And it’s comfy, cozy to boot. On the third (our second wedding date) I was supposed to chaperone Isabella’s trip to the zoo. I got hit with a major short term deadlined project. It had to be done in a week, wasn’t even close and I was under the gun. Luckily my hubby rocks. He took the day off, took both the kids to the zoo and then stayed home in the afternoon and kept them happy. I worked through the day and into the night all week including one all nighter (been a while on those) and the project got done. So all goals were accomplished. We were able to still participate in Isabella’s school trip and we were able to get our work done. That’s what family is all about. This is why I love the man and why the last 11 years has gone by in a blink.
October 6, 2006 - The gang’s all here
The aunts came down from Illinois and we all gathered at the Wagner’s home to celebrate. Aunt Jean and Tim made fudge in the kitchen while the rest of us chatted in the parlor. The kids ran off to play upstairs and came zipping back down where word of cooked chocolate confections was mentioned. It was wonderful to see the family and spend time with them. I wish I hadn’t been so tired. That unfortunately was the day after my all nighter for work so I was a little cloudy in the brain. Nicholas just wanted to sleep and I couldn’t blame the boy!
Bella’s New Carseat
Bella got a new Princess booster seat which she adores. She’s grown out of the carseat and she’s getting to be such a big girl.
October 14, 2006 - Falling for Fall
We brought the kids to meet up with the Sampsons last night to Celebrations Falling of the Leaves. They load up their fan blowers on Market Street and every hour or so they blow the leaves out for the kids to collect. They closed down main street and lots of activities and food available. Bella thought that it was way too loud but she liked the leaves which we will be using for an art project this week. Nicholas liked watching the people but he really wanted to crawl off into the mayhem. He was bound and determined to get down and get going. Isabella, Nicholas and Finn enjoyed playing in the turned off fountain at the waterfront with all the other kids. What else could you want but a flat section of concrete to run around on?
And for the big news… (no, not another baby)
Fox Chase Point
Yesterday, Tim and I went to look at a house. This house had come across my desk in a search in the summer and I had told Tim that we had to go see it because it seemed to fit all of our criteria which was:
Must Haves:
- Indoor Laundry Room
- Room for an office
- Room for a real dining room table
Would like to haves:
- Pool
- Fireplace
- Playset
- Small (easily manageable) yard
- On a cul de sac (we love my parents cul de sac)
- Bedrooms upstairs
- A master bath with a tub
- Tile or wood floors throughout
So when this house came across it had almost everything on the list (which was amazing.) I told Tim about it and we kept and eye on it. It was listed at $315. A month ago it came across my desk again and it was lowered to $305. At that point, I sent an email to the real estate agent to find out if it had an indoor laundry room/area. She sent back a note that said “No, it did not.” I was kind of sad. It seemed like the perfect house but that was something I couldn’t live without any longer. Then on Friday it came across my desk and the price was lowered to $295. Now you have to understand that in our neighborhood, houses are running at about $325 for any house that has 4 rooms. I really need a room for an office because I’ve been working in the corner of our living room for 4 years which is fine except for at night when I want to be able to close a door and get work done. The kicker is that Tim was home because he was heading out golfing. So I turned to him and told him and he said “Well, we should go look at it.” Honestly if the house is $25k cheaper than any comparable house then we could have a plumber come out and put laundry hookups inside.
So, we called Andy (our realtor and Drew’s Dad) and had him bring us out to look at the place. Right upon getting out of the car, one of the neighbors came over to introduce themselves. This is why I want to live on a cul de sac. You tend to get to know your neighbors. And as you all know, we’re very social so we like to know our neighbors. The man who owns the house was there fixing something so we were able to chat with him and then we went in.
The first thing I noticed was that the laundry hookups were not in the garage. Oooh. That’s promising. So into the house we went. The kitchen is really cute. And these people were not afraid of color on the walls so no eggshell walls in this house. While in the kitchen I went to open what I thought was the pantry and voila! It’s the closet for the washer and dryer. I yelled “Yay!” which I know you shouldn’t do when in a house that you might make an offer on, but you guys really must understand… I need an indoor laundry area. The kitchen has newer appliances which is really nice. And the sink is white instead of silver. The sprayer on the sink has good water pressure. It’s the little things!
The entire downstairs (except the master bedroom) has a really pretty tile and entering in the house is really nice. You can see upstairs into the landing and then walk through into the great room (living room/dining room combo.) It has a nice fireplace and a screened in porch that leads out to the small (perfectly sized) pool. There is a pet door leading from the inside of the house to the porch, so the girls could have some porch time without me having to a/c the whole neighborhood. The master bedroom also has a sliding glass door leading to the porch and it’s a big room. It has separate closets and leads to a bathroom that’s bigger than ours but only has a shower. I really want a tub, but for the right house I could survive. Bella loved the big shower (she’s a shower girl.) There is a skylight in the master bathroom giving it some light.
Under the stairs is a little closet that goes into a little “hidey hole” which Bella and I loved. I can imagine the kids playing back there for hours. I would have when I was a kid. Heck, you might today find me in a place like that curled up with a book and a cat. There is a small half bath (sink and potty) downstairs for guests. It’s really small, but an extra potty is always handy with kids around. The stairs are half and half style where you walk up half the flight, do a 180 then walk up the other half. I think that’s safer with the kids, so that makes me happy. At the top of the stairs is a small landing area which would be perfect for a reading area or small play area. Then it has the 2 bedrooms (one of which has a space theme and one that has the same colors as Nicholas’ room with a matching border), a bathroom and a linen closet.
Outside is the area that I really loved. The yard is small, but well maintained. You can actually take your shoes off and walk in the grass. The pool is cute and small and has little fountains. There are a few planting areas surrounded by concrete so that should be fun to plant now and again. There is a playset already there with 2 regular swings, a double swing, a slide, monkey bars and a climbing wall. Bella was in heaven. There’s enough room for a kiddie pool and a slip and slide, but it shouldn’t take Tim longer than an hour to do all the lawn stuff each week. Bella and I can help with the trimming and beds because they are small and separated from the lawn. The front yard is small and has lots of tall trees.
So I spent a lot of the time chasing Isabella around. So I didn’t hear a lot of what was going on, but it went something like this. Tim and Andy were chatting with the guy who owns the house. He’s having his own house built and the house has been on the market a long time, thus why the price has come down twice. He’s had 3 people back out of it and he’s a bit desperate. He said make an offer. Andy asked him what he was looking for. He said 270. They said “We were thinking around 260.” He said ok. So we left and talked about it and realized that we couldn’t beat the deal so we put in a bid that day. The real estate agent said that they accepted the offer verbally and that we would sign the paperwork on Monday. So now we’re trying to get all our paperwork together to get financing and crossing our fingers that nothing goes wrong in the next day.
I’m a big believer in fate and omens. This was the first house that I told Tim that we HAD to go see even if it wasn’t exactly right and we needed to wait until after the new year. He held me off and I was ok until it came down another 10k and then he was willing to go see it. If the owner hadn’t been there we probably wouldn’t have offered 260 which was 35k below his listed price. The laundry room contrary to the real estate agents email was inside the house. All things that seemed to me to be meant to be. Providence!!
Nicholas is walking a bit more each day. Today he walked across the kitchen to get to the fridge, then walked across the living room to get to Isabella. He’s up to a record breaking 12 steps in a row. He still prefers to dive at me when he gets close enough for me to catch him, but his big sister still does that, so what are you gonna do? Here’s my current favorite pic taken of him this weekend in the tub. I can’t believe he’ll be 1 year old in 5 weeks. I can’t believe I haven’t gotten started on his birthday party prep!!