Big day!

This morning, we had our new house inspection, and it went pretty well! Just some minor things that need to be changed. We're also in the midst of a radon test that we ordered. Hopefully, that won't be an issue, but if it is, the current owners will have to pay to have it dealt with.

While we were there, I took a ton of pictures, which I'll have up on my photo site in the next day or so. I wanted to remember some of the details as well, so I took tons of notes. Basically, Paul and I do not have enough furniture for all the rooms. We have no formal living room furniture, and we're going to need some other assorted things, but nothing too major. I did some measuring in the kitchen to see what kinds of appliances we can get, so I have a better idea of that.

After that, we decided to swing by an Amish furniture store in Batavia. A few years ago, Paul bought several pieces at this store and they're BEAUTIFUL. Sooooo well made, too. It took us 3+ months to get our entertainment center! We found a gorgeous bedroom set, which will be a belated wedding present from my dad and stepmom. It's incredible and was on clearance for more than 1/2 off. After a quick call to my dad, we just couldn't resist getting it! The master bedroom will need to be painted before we can have it delivered. It looks a little like the picture here. The pieces included in the set are a wee different (and there are a LOT of them!!), but that's the basic design.

Tonight, Paul and I had a little celebration at a nearby Mexican restaurant that we've been dying to try. It was amazing!! Then we got caught in the heavy rain--hopefully, this won't stick around too long tomorrow as we're getting our front step repaired as part of the contract with the new owners. If he can't do it tomorrow, we might be a tiny bit screwed...

Enjoy your weekend! Tomorrow, I'm officially 8 weeks along!

Geneva

Well, surprise of all surprises, we found a house!! After putting in offers on a multitude of houses, we hit the jackpot. Can't say we got the best deal on it, but we were finding that a lot--not many people were willing to budge on prices. My theory is that everyone had lowered their house prices so much that they just didn't want to go any lower. Do I blame them? Not really, however we budged and were told over and over not to worry what we sold our house for because we'd make it up on the buying end. We didn't really see that happen though.

But it's ok--we found a nice house that we aren't having to overstretch to buy! It's in Geneva (IL, for those who might be thinking of European destinations) and it's very, very nice! It was one that we looked at, then thought about for many houses afterwards. We compare them to this one and none really stood up (ok, until the last one that was GORGEOUS but again, no budge on the price). The only things it needs are new kitchen appliances and a back patio or deck (which will have to wait until next summer).

Wanna see it? ☺ Take a gander at it here.

IacoBaby is doing well so far. I had my last ultrasound with Dr. Morris' office today. I got to see the heartbeat again, and the tech showed me little leg and arm buds! WE HAVE APPENDAGES! Yippee! It's about 1 cm long so far and growing fast and well! I have, however, been feeling queasy at times, sometimes for longer stretches than I'd like. This is severely hindering my motivation level--I want to do nothing but lay down and relax, which is good for the baby but bad when you have to leave for Mexico in a week and move a week after you return. I'm in deep doo-doo. Thankfully, we're living quite minimally these days, so packing shouldn't be too difficult.

Enjoy the upcoming 80 degree weather! Where else can you live where it snows on a Tuesday and is 80 by Friday???

So much

It's funny how, in just a few short weeks, so much has changed. Last week, we had the inspection on this house and it ended quite well! Only one repair (front step), which we had planned anyway. On our end, we've bid on 3 houses so far, but none would come down to our price point. One of them we thought would be a slam dunk--it wasn't. We're now revisiting 2 of them to see if they'll accept a slightly higher bid. If neither does, we'll be back out looking this weekend.

We tried making an offer on the very first one yesterday, but they wouldn't accept our bid. We're trying the 2nd one today, and if they don't accept, we'll go out hunting again this weekend (we may plan to go anyway). I'm a little blown away at how difficult this has been!! We've put in offers on 3 houses now, 2 of them twice, but had no luck.

The little nubbin is doing just fine! I saw the heartbeat yesterday--it's still too early to hear anything, but seeing it was still pretty awesome! Everyone is so excited, but I don't think anyone is moreso than Paul's dad. On Sunday, he asked a million questions, and kept patting my belly (even though it's just FAT right now, not baby!). After my ultrasound yesterday, I called Paul, who promptly asked me to call his dad, who was apparently waiting with baited breath, so I called the restaurant to let him know. He's thrilled every time we talk! It's so cute!

I haven't had any morning sickness, but I hear that normally starts in the next few weeks. I'm kind of dreading it--with our trip to Mexico, I don't want anything to ruin it, nor do I want to be forced to have to see a doctor there. I've heard there's medication to help with nausea, so I might look into that at my next appointment (a week from today).

In other news, my sister-in-law's PET scan was ALL CLEAR today!! Her husband wept when he heard the news. 2009 is proving to be quite the HAPPY year!!

First picture

Introducing: the little nubbin. Measuring a mere 5mm round (the sac...nubbin's still too small to measure), it's still too early to see any fetal poles (?). Next week, we'll see the heartbeat (but not hear it). After that, it's on to a regular ob/gyn.

And yes, there's only ONE. And I'm perfectly ok with that.

Things became a lot more REAL yesterday, after seeing this. We've been so preoccupied with the selling of the house (and buying of a new one) that we haven't been able to give it a lot of thought. This definitely put things into perspective! It's exciting to us, but we're still being VERY cautious, being I'm only 5 weeks along. We know good and well that anything can happen.

Poor Bailey is pretty sick right now. She has runny stuff coming out both ends. I took her to work and Dr. Lisa is doing a poop and blood test on her to see if anything can be found. Signs are pointing to more bladder stones, but it could be as serious as renal failure. If she has stones, they'll definitely need to be removed. Thank goodness I work where I do and get a great discount!

We were bidding on a house in Batavia but it looks like it won't go through. That's ok because we have a few others picked out. We're headed out again on Friday to look at more. I know we'll find something and hopefully get a great deal! The house inspection for our house is today. Keep all fingers crossed for good results!

More later...

House-hunting

Well, we spent 4 hours hunting for a house today, and saw a lot of really nice ones! We had 2 all-time favorites, both in Batavia. In fact, most of what we've found has been in Batavia. We seem to be able to get a lot more for our money there, plus they have a good school system and it's a nice town overall. The house we really flipped for is priced at the highest end of our budget, even if we get a good deal, so we may have to forgo that one. Realistically, I might not be working much after kids arrive, so that's going to cut our income a bit.

Anyway, we'll take a couple more days to look at others. Dawn was really good about taking us around and giving us her ideas and thoughts. I guess realtors aren't normally supposed to do this, but being that she's family, we appreciate it. She has never discouraged us and has a lot of good advice on everything. Plus, she's really keen on low-balling, which we like! ☺

Everything with the little nubbin(s) is fine so far. It's still so early and I'm trying not to get too excited about anything. Sometimes it's hard though--we both want this SO BAD. I dread the thought of having to restart all those drugs to try again. Next time around, we'll be starting from scratch. Anyway, I've had no morning sickness or anything, but I do find myself eating A LOT and definitely gaining weight. I'm not super happy about that--I know it's expected, but I'm sure it's not expected at the rate I'm going.

We should have more house news by the end of the week! We realized today that we'll be getting a new bedroom set once we move, courtesy of my dad and Beverly (belated wedding present--we turned it down in 2006 since nothing new would fit in our current house!). WOO HOO!

If things weren't interesting enough...

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!

Nothing can ever be boring and dull around here. The excitement continues! Yesterday, we had a showing scheduled from 1:30-2:30. At 3:30, our realtor called to say the people that had just seen it were putting in a bid on it. After some negotiating back and forth, we accepted their offer and signed all the paperwork last night! They want to close on May 13th, so we're headed out this weekend to start looking for a new house for us.

Now, I realize there's still a lot that has to happen before this house is officially considered SOLD, but to me, it's pretty damn real now. The weird part of this whole thing: the people buying it are currently renting a house right down the street from us. I guess they like the neighborhood so well, they're sticking around!

Poor Paul is completely flipped out right now. Last night, we sat for about 20 minutes on the couch together putting it all in perspective. We're so thankful to have each other in all this. There have been and will be those few moments of stress (we got in a rare yelling match last night), but we'll be fine. As flipped out as he is, it's very much a good flipped out.

Our trip to Mexico has officially been booked (before the house sale!), and Peggy handed over the condo keys last night. We're so stinkin' excited to get away from here and have a break. It usually takes Paul 3-4 days to really get into and enjoy a vacation (and for him to even feel like he's ON vacation), which explains why he always takes 2-3 week breaks when he goes away. This one will be a bit shorter, but all that either of us can spare. It'll still be very welcomed!

So...if good things happen in 3's, what's next for us??!