it gets worse

It gets worse.... Carol went over to our house to shut off the breaker so they could turn the electricity back on and since the electricity was turned off the sump pump didn't work so there is now 2 inches of water in the corner of our basement. Our basement has NEVER flooded - well it did once from sewer backed up from the street because tree roots had grown through the pipes - gross but the city came and fixed that for us. I was pregnant and didn't have a bathroom for a few days. Very interesting and another story for another blog. But then there are some tresses (I guess you could call them that) on the exterior of our home that need to be painted before they pass inspection. This house was built in 1924 and these are mainly decorative tresses and we've always wanted to paint them but never had a ladder big enough and since there are only 2 in the back of the house we never bothered. But some company is coming out tomorrow to paint them and we're not sure who pays for that one. Its just paint - why should that matter for the loan to go through? And why wasn't all this brought up a month ago???? I'm almost afraid to answer the phone anymore. And why did all this have to wait until AFTER the supposed closing date. We're just praying nothing else goes wrong.

Today we were supposed to close on our house. But note I said supposed. We had moved out, filled out our end of the paper work, everything was set and seemed to be in order and then we got a call from Carol yesterday. She said that the closing wouldn't happen today since the couple buying our house had applied for an FHA loan and for some reason those loans can't be processed as fast and that we had to wait. Which someone should've noticed that before. If FHA loans take so long then you shouldn't try to close in 30 days like they wanted. It was fine for us - the sooner the better but apparently they were a little hasty. So today I got a call from Carol saying that we had to get all our utilities turned back on (we had turned them off since we were supposed to close today) for the loan company to test all the appliances and make sure the electrical work we had done was done right. The appliances had to be checked during the home inspection but I guess the loan company or whoever is holding up this closing wants to make sure it all worked. So they are worrying about giving thousands of dollars in a loan for a$50 microwave! It doesn't make sense. Especially since the electrical work had to be done by a certified electrician and we had to send them a copy of the bill and name and phone number of the company who completed the repairs. So I am now on hold with the power company (and the kind operator just said there are 52 people ahead of me) so they can get in and check all these things so the couple can get their loan and we can close. OH and guess who gets to pay all the start up fees for them to do this! thats right us. All for one day of being turned on. AHHHHH so frustrating. You would think someone would've noticed all this BEFORE today. So hopefully it all gets straighed out soon. And a side note - we LOVE Carol. We met with a Realtor this weekend and while she was nice we really love Carol and wish she could come down here and help us find a house.

how fast they grow

I took some of these pictures today and realized they were a lot like some pictures I took almost exactly a year ago. He really is so cute in his overalls! Colin still loves plants and watering his flowers! Some things never change... only our little baby is no longer a baby and is a little boy!


A year ago (Colin was almost 1)




These pictures were taken this morning

lawnmowers

Colin's love for lawnmowers has continued and he is very excited it is now time to cut the grass. And to make for a wonderful Friday - today when my dad gets home he will cut the grass. He told Colin last night and all day Colin keeps talking about when grandpa will cut the grass. He is ready! Here are some cute pictures from last week.

Country Roads... take me home

Well we are finally out of WV! It was a long weekend but we are finally done... for now at least. Colin, Brent and I left Friday afternoon after Colin's gymnastics class - (there are more boys than girls in it - its mainly a gym class for his age, but for those of you who are horrified I put my son in a gymnastics class... he LOVED it and it tired him out for the trip) Colin fell asleep in the car and slept until we got to DC and hit traffic -for some reason once the car slows down or stops he always wakes up. He was so good though and after playing some games, reading stories, and coloring we turned on the DVD player (bought just for this trip) and we all enjoyed the trip much more! We got to our house around 7:30 and Colin had fun exploring this new place. He was so funny since we left his old crib in his room (he broke it from jumping up and down so much on it) and bought him a new one when we moved last year - but the crib was for a "BABY" as he is now in a toddler bed. And he wouldn't go near the crib - that was for a "baby." The pack-n-play was his new playground as he liked to climb in and out of it. We had a lot of help moving all of our stuff out and had fun visiting with some friends as well. It was fun to see them after a year and also for them to play with Colin. He loved the boys who came over - although Adam Z did teach him to pick his nose! The guys were great and a huge help. We couldn't have done it without them. All but one of Brent's old bible study guys were there helping. Colin loved helping anyone fix things and took all of Brent's tools out of the toolbox and lined them up to use. He also liked running up and down the ramp for the truck. Brent drove the truck back Sunday and I had to stay until Monday to close our bank accounts and also wait for the gas meter man to come shut off the gas. And since I couldn't convince my friend Beth to come from KY to stay with Colin and I in an empty house - who could blame her - we stayed in a hotel and had fun playing in the pool.... or rather just splashing our legs in the water (Colin didn't want to go in the water - just sit on the side) We had some friends come visit us in the hotel and Colin had fun entertaining them with his somersaults and even made them march around. Colin was a perfect angel though and I was so proud of him. He never complained even when we were so busy cleaning and packing the house as he didn't really get play time in. He also didn't complain about the long car trip. He and I came home in the rain Monday and the only video he wanted to watch was his Bob the Builder video. I think he needs a new one for his birthday - or at least mommy needs a new one! We will miss our friends dearly but are very excited about finding our new home.
Marching and doing somersaults in the hotel for jess, michelle, christina and karen

I love Rachel

Making soup - we had to pack our spoons when he was asleep as he kept getting them out to feed everyone

Helping Matt Kim take apart the bed

With Victor

With Destiny or Des-deee as Colin called her. (we got ice cream with Destiny and Colin was VERY sad to see her go... especially since she took some ice cream home with her!)

could it really be true???

After 11 months on the market I think our house has finally sold! We have had a steady flow of people looking at our house all year and had our hopes crushed almost monthly it seemed as people loved our house but for various reasons didn't buy it. We love our realtor and have gotten to know her even better this year and I will miss her weekly, sometimes daily phone calls. We had a contract on the house in October but once the home inspection was done the couple backed out. The inspectors report would've scared me! Our Realtor had never heard of the company and we've been worried about the state of our roof ever since. But we finally got another offer a few weeks ago and after countering and more counter offers we accepted their offer only to worry about the home inspection. But the inspection was last Friday and not only did the home inspection go great, but the wife's father (who is a contractor) went along too and didn't find anything to scare them away. They said the house was in great shape. So we've worried for nothing the past few weeks. We will get a copy of the report today but we are planning on moving out next weekend as the closing is April 30th. We are going to put our stuff in storage down in VA beach and then take our time looking for the perfect home. We loved our first home but are very excited about what our new home will look like.

ewwwww

This morning Colin was lying on the floor going "ewww" which usually means he has spotted a bug (or lately it could mean a piece of fuzz, dirt, leaf, etc) but Brent hadn't left for work yet so when he walked in the room I told Colin to show dada the bug since I don't like bugs either and Colin pointed to his mouth! Brent asked him if he ate the bug and he said yes and went yummmm. I really do hope he didn't eat the bug but we will never know for sure but whatever Colin ate it was yummy!

Fun with bubbles

kitty

Colin loves kitty. We give kitty kisses, play with kitty, feed kitty, talk to kitty, read books to kitty. (when we read books sometimes colin makes kitty's head move to tell me if yes he wants that book or no choose another one... I think Colin's preferences sway kitty's true feelings sometimes. haha) This cat is slowly becoming Colin's favorite stuffed animal. And the funny thing is its one of Mary's old stuffed animals he found - not one of his new ones people have given him. This is a well loved cat.

Monument Aveunue 10K

(Just before the race)

A few months ago, Sarah talked me into running the Monument Avenue 10k. I used to run 6 miles every day but that was many years ago... and definitely not since I had Colin. It seemed like a great idea at the time and a fun motivation to get into shape for running 6.2 miles. Well April 5th was here before I knew it or was ready for it. I had been running more and thought I was doing good but then I took my car to clock how far I had been running and it was only 2 miles instead of the 4 that I thought I had been running! My friend Tifiny went running with me while she was in town and really encouraged me saying the first 2 miles were the worst - and they were - but that there comes a point where your body gets in it and you can keep going.So leading up to yesterday I just kept telling myself that. So along with 30,000 people Sarah, Mary, Sam and I ran our first 10K. We were able to all run together - or at least start out together Mary took off shortly after we started and we didn't see her until the end. Its a really pretty run down monument avenue and there must have been 25 bands set up along the course playing for us as well as tons of people cheering. It started to downpour after we started but once we were running I really didn't notice the rain. The only hard part was my socks got soaked from the rain and I now have the blisters to remind me of the race. It was amazing seeing 30,000 people running and you just saw a wall of people when you looked ahead of you but I was surprised how well organized this event was. It took me about an hour to finish - as soon as the official times are up I will know for sure but I at least beat Sarah :) I sprinted in right before her! Here we are at the end of the race. The sun did come out - when we were walking to our cars! ha - but it was fun and now I'm looking forward to the next race I run in.

our little climber

Its a good thing Colin is signed up for a toddler gym class in a few weeks because he is a climbing machine. He loves to climb on things/over things and especially stairs. He has also mastered some of the hard climbing things on the playground - much to his mom's anxiety each time. The other morning I went upstairs really fast to get Colin's shirt to change into and this is what I found. I quickly grabbed the camera and was amazed at his abilities. (don't worry I was standing there with him) There is a climbing thing on the playground that has stair steps going up and then a bar at the top to hold onto. And it does resemble the way Colin is climbing the stairs in the picture. He's going to love his gym class where he'll be told to climb on things and mommy won't have to worry about him getting hurt. Although I do worry about what he'll do when he gets home. If he thinks the stairs are like the playground climbing thing(I don't know the official name) imagine what he will do when he gets home from his gym class.


For those who wondered what happened with Colin climbing out of the crib - we converted the crib into a toddler bed and he loves it. We kept his bumpers as he likes to snuggle up to them and put in a little bed railing. It doesn't keep him from climbing out as you can hear him knocking on his door when he wakes up. (and saying COME IN in a really cute voice.... so cute) But at least thats one less worry I have about him falling when trying to climb out of his crib. Here he is asleep. He was too cute not to take a picture.