Bump Day - 19 Weeks

How far along? 19 weeks (oops, I skipped 18 when we were out of town. Oh well, believe me there weren't any drastic changes)

Total weight gain/loss: Surprise!! I've been the same for two weeks now. Overall still down 2 pounds. I will be amazed to make it to the halfway point without any weight gain.

Maternity Clothes? My maternity scrubs are like heaven! My regular bras however...yikes. I think I finally have to get a few new ones. Apparently I had another growth spurt, if that's even possible at this point, and now have the dreaded 4 boob syndrome where the extra is spilling over and the sides cut in so bad I have permanent marks when I take it off. Awesome.

Sleep: I can actually stay awake until 10 sometimes later...who knew this would be an accomplishment.

Stretch marks: Nope...other then the indentations from my too tight bra, I've got no new battle wounds.

Best moment this week: I swear I felt actual kicks...not just flutters and fish bowl swimming. And since I skipped last weeks post I have to also include our trip to Buy Buy Baby while we were in Columbus over the weekend. I've never seen two grown adults get as excited over a stroller as me and my husband did. You'd think we were car shopping!! But let's be honest, who wouldn't be stoked to be pushing this sweet ride!

Movement: Some, but surprisingly it's been less lately....which doesn't exactly calm my nerves. The other night I actually shook my belly a bit and said "Hellooo baby are you still in there??" I told my hubby I might break down and buy one of those at home Dopplers to hear the heartbeat so I don't give our baby brain damage in the womb from all the shaking and poking!

Food cravings: My dad got me hooked on apples with cheese...it's now my morning snack everyday. I've also been eating a lot more junk, not really craving it, I've just had it available and can't resist.

Gender: No clue. Still leaning a bit more towards boy but I won't be surprised if it's a girl at this point. Less than two weeks till we know for sure

Labor Signs: Nada.

Belly Button in or out? In. Though the bulge is creeping up on it.

What I miss: Sleeping through the night with no potty breaks!

What I'm looking forward to: Finally telling my job I'm pregnant. I'm not actually looking forward to the telling part, more the relief I will feel when it's over! (10 bucks says next week I still won't have said anything!!)

Weekly Wisdom: Don't skimp and buy off brand cheese. It's rubbery and kind of gross and will make you gag ultimately ruining the best part of your day.....snack time!

Milestones: I booked a baby photographer and I have a small crush on her. We talked on the phone for almost 30 minutes when I called to get more information...she's awesome. And her photos...uh-mazing! I probably shouldn't have splurged, ya know with the house buying and the saving for maternity leave....but I had a weak moment. I went with the whole first year package which gets us a newborn sessions plus two additional at our choosing, probably 6 mos and 1 year. I can't wait to see how they turn out! It won't let me copy any of her photos...but here's a link to her blog if you want to check it out!

My new home away from home

Hello all! Exciting news here! I was recently asked to join a mommy blog called The Baby Cove. My new alias name is Momma Crab, fitting don't ya think? Haha. I was shocked and honored that someone not only enjoys what I write, but wants to see more! Who knew I was such a popular chick! :)

Don't worry though, I'm not abandoning all of you! And this doesn't mean you're safe from anymore baby related posts either. Oh no!! It just means a few times a week you'll have to check me out over there to read them!

Stay tuned for my belated weekend update!

Pregnancy brain strikes again!

So this morning it took me three tries to remember which one of our cabinets had bowls in them.

Yep.

Three times.

The sad part is, I had it 'right' on the first try, I just didn't open both of the doors.

Oh dear!

Ummm...did we just buy a house?

That's what's running through my head right now.

Buyers remorse.

It happens to me pretty much every time I make a purchase.

Big or Small.
Just ask my husband.

He usually makes bets when I buy something whether or not I will actually keep it!

Well I'm certainly not going to return our house, but it won't keep me from a few sleepless nights worrying whether or not we made the right choice.

The good news is at the some point between now and closing, the worries will melt away and the excitement will come back! (At least I hope so!)

After many many phone calls and emails we finally reached an agreement with the seller. They accepted our asking price right off the bat (woo hoo!!) but there were a few odds and ends we were asking them to fix and they just weren't budging. Finally last night we reached a mutual agreement and are signing the official last offer today! YAY!! We are going to schedule the inspection next week and barring no huge problems....we close April 5th! That's less than a month away...crazy!! On one hand I feel like we've been looking forever, on the the other it all happened so fast!

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers and good luck wishes! I can't say enough how amazed and blessed I am to have found this huge blog support system! You guys rock!

And now without further delay....our home!

The house is about 30 years old in a great established neighborhood. It's right at the top of a small culdasac with no neighbors behind us...woo hoo! Can't wait to see some leaves on all those trees!

It's a split level plan, so from the front door you walk right into the family room and then can either go up a few stairs to the kitchen/dining room/bedrooms or down a few steps to the garage and finished lower level. It has huge vaulted ceilings and we love how open it feels!

I'm in love with the two story fire place! You can't tell in the picture, but there are three bricks that step out to form shelves. I can see the family photos and Christmas stockings already!

The kitchen. The house was recently remodeled hence the S/S appliances, tile floors and back splash and of course the granite countertops. YAY! Can't wait to finally load my new dishes into all those cabinets! And there's a great big pantry with roll out shelves. I'm one happy camper. There would also be room for a smaller table if we want to make it an eat-in kitchen.

The dining room is right up the family rooms stairs next to the kitchen. Luckily we saved our light fixture from the old place, it will look MUCH better than that cheesy one! The double doors lead out to the backyard.

Hall bath...aka the kids bathroom. Alleluia for a double sink and ceramic tile!

Master Bedroom. Not the best picture, but what can you really see in an empty room? There's vaulted ceilings and a walk-in closet....finally something I can work with! (I don't have pics of the other two bedrooms upstairs, but they are there...I promise :)

Master bath vanity. There's a separate room just to the right with the shower and such...figured you all didn't need to see a toilet so I spared you that pic. I like how they're separated by a door though so if the hubs has to do any man business I still have full access to the sink and mirror!
Finished lower level...aka the "man cave." We really wanted a second family room/TV area where the hubs could get away and watch all his silly man shows and do whatever it is men do. This fits the bill quite well! There's also a 4th bedroom and 1/2 bath down there which will be great for guests.
Built in bar area. So glad I have some where to keep my wine fridge and all the bar ware that takes up so much room in the kitchen! This lower level really sold us on the house. Can't wait to have our first party...now if only we knew more people in KC! (There's also a sub basement that's unfinished for storage, utilities and laundry)
So there you have it....our little piece of the American dream!

Tom Petty said it best....

Waiting really is the hardest part!

We put in our offer last night and gave them until noon today.

As in 43 minutes ago!

Argh! The wait it killing me....

I talked to my agent around 11:30 and she was headed over to the house to give the buyer some clarification on a few things we were asking them to fix, so I know the ball is rolling, but I want to know either way what's going on!

(And I really want to go eat my lunch but I'm afraid to miss the call!)

Approved!

So I am over the moon excited right now.

Like stand up, do a happy dance, high five your neighbor kind of excited!

We officially got our pre-approval for the loan on our fave (and most $$) house yesterday!

YAY!!

I'm not going to lie I was on pins and needles all day yesterday.

I don't think I've checked my phone and email that many times in my life just waiting for a response!

It's not that I didn't think we could afford it, because we can.

We aren't stupid enough to buy something outta our league.

But the bank will only use half my income when considering our loan. The other half (and quite frankly the larger half) of my monthly income comes from being a sub dental hygienist. As you may or may not remember this post, that's what put a hault on house hunting the first time. Apparently the banks don't like to give money to people who don't have "guaranteed" income. With all the foreclosures out there it's understandable. However when I see how much money I make coming in week after week it's frustrating when they say "Sorry, can't count it."

Well with my new part time (permanent and guaranteed) job I started after the new year we were praying it would be enough even though I'm still subbing 2 days a week making all that fake pretend money they won't count.

Lucky for us we have a fabulous loan guy who worked his ass off yesterday to make this work! I've never even met this guy but I want to hug him!

The best part is, our estimated monthly payment including all the taxes, insurance, etc is what we were paying on our mortgage back in Columbus. Ummm, hello how fabulous is that?!? Seems funny we're going from a 800 sq ft one bedroom condo to a 2000 sq ft 4 bedroom house for the same price. Thank you bad economy and fabulous interest rates!

We're officially putting on our big girl panties and making an offer tonight.

I'm hoping this is it for us!!

(I'm getting all choked up and teary eyed just thinking about it, I'll blame it on the hormones)

Fingers crossed people.

Extra prayers.

Lots of luck.

However you roll....send it our way!

House Hunters

We've finally jumped back into the wide world of house hunting....and what a world it's been. We spent the last two days trekking over the city with our trusty real estate agent looking at roughly 20 houses.

Yes. 20. I'm exhausted.

And it is NOT as fun as they make it look on TV.

After awhile they all start to look the same and man are there some DUMPS out there. They make them look so glamorous in the online photos. Well let me say, photos are decieving!! They only photograph the new updated kitchen, nice windows and big backyard....convieniently leaving out the mold in the garage, the sloping floor and the buckling walls. YIKES!

We lucked out and found 3 good ones. Which in all honesty isn't TOO bad, it just means less to weed through. There's definitly a front runner between them, of course the most expensive. What can I say, I have expensive taste! However it's the biggest, move in ready and would be a long term house as opposed to the others which would only last 3-5 years (or baby #2) before we outgrew it.

We hear the final word from the bank today on our loan situation. Ideally we would of had the pre-approval done FIRST, but I didn't get them all our paperwork in time (oops, my bad!) so fingers crossed we haven't overspent our budget!