Condo Update

Instead of writing a whole new post about our latest hurdle I am just going to copy and paste an email which I sent our to our family members seeing as it sums up everything perfectly!

We just wanted to send out an email to everyone and keep you informed on our home-buying process.

Yesterday we received a call from our agent who received a call this past weekend informing him that the couple had run out of time on their short sale process and that the bank is now forcing them into foreclosure. For whatever reason the bank would rather foreclose (and potentially get no money) than accept guaranteed money from a short sale which makes absolutely ZERO sense to me. But obviously banks don't think like normal, rational people! We are extremely disappointed, and initially very angry, because we LOVED that place but we also firmly believe that everything happens for a reason.

So that's a no-go for us and it also only leaves us 10 days to find a new place, make an offer, and have that offer accepted thus creating a legally binding purchase agreement. The deadline for the federal tax credit, which would put up to an additional $8000 in our pocket, is April 30, 2010. Tonight we are going with our agent to view 4 properties (that number is subject to increase as the day goes on) and hopefully we will see something that we like.

Yesterday on the phone he mentioned one possibility which he hasn't yet listed because he'd like us to see it and first decide if we'd be interested in it before anyone else shows any interest. The seller is asking $89,000, it has 2 bedrooms, a basement, it's fairly new and the seller is including all appliances and all furniture. Needless to say it has peaked my interest but the only problem is that we would really prefer to remain closer to where we live now and that that condo is at least 15-20 minutes from here. But we're trying to keep our minds and options open at this point.

Keep us in your thoughts and in your prayers because we're gonna need all the help we can get to pull this one off! I'll let you all know how it goes tonight after all the viewings are done.

Love,
U, B & Y

I ♥ TCP

Today I made my fourth trip to The Children's Place in less than a week and my seventh trip in less than a month. I'm beginning to think that I need to remove myself from their email list because the store is just too close to resist going and buying when I know what I want is on sale. It doesn't help that I stalk their website several times a week just looking for things that I want to buy and making a mental note of it in case it ever goes on sale (I never pay full price, well only once but that was a dress I just absolutely could not pass up). Typically we go twice a year (once toward the end of summer and again in January/February) to buy her clothes for the next year when they are having their AMAZING "50% off already reduced prices" so generally we end up paying ¼ of the price...it's great! But there are times when I see things that I think are must haves between those AMAZING sales. And so, I settle for just a pretty good sale because, as I said before, they are must haves.

Needless to say, today was one of those days. We'd been looking for a swim suit for Y for a while but couldn't find one we liked at a price we liked, so we thought we'd hold off for a while seeing as she probably won't need it for another month anyway. Well that holding off paid off today when I got that glorious email telling me that all swimwear was on sale at TCP. So I called in, asked if they had the one I wanted in the size I wanted and then asked them to hold it for me (glad I did that because it was the last in her size and they were also sold out of her size on their website).

You shouldn't be surprised that it is polka-dotted, if it's ever an option I will probably go with it. But I also loved the colors - so much so that I went out and bought yarn to match it and I am going to knit her a cover up so that we can walk to and from the pool without worrying that some pedophile is watching my cute little girl in her swimsuit (not that those idiots would stop looking because of a cover up, but every little bit helps). And yes, I am a totally paranoid, over protective mother when it comes to the possibility of crazy people lurking around the corner.

With all that said...here's her newest article of clothing!

Isn't that adorable?!?!?!

Interesting...

Today B was doing a little Wii Fit (Jack knives to be exact) and I come out of the kitchen to discover this...

...kinda hard to do with a 25lb sack of pure sugar sitting on your chest! :)

I LOVE Summer!!!

I Love Summer! It's hot, it's sticky (well not really here in Michigan but all the people who are from here seem to think it's horrible humidity...they should move to the south) but those aren't the reasons I love it so much. I love it because I love summer shoes...sandals, flip flops, you name it and I love it. I used to love ALL things shoe but in the past several years my affinity for "other" shoes has lessened. I am trying to pass my love for shoes on to my beloved daughter but as you may have read in my previous post she hates shoes. It kind of makes me sad because ever since she was born shopping for myself doesn't give me the same thrill as shopping for her. I haven't let the fact that she hates shoes deter me though, I mean, she has to have shoes, right?!?! Fortunately I have The Children's Place which has many affordable options, plus I shop there so much that they invited us to their rewards program so we actually earn points for every dollar you spend and then they send us a reward certificate for $10 when we reach a certain number of points. Anyway, here's my latest purchase...

I bought both pair but they have even more colors (7 to choose from) which were so hard to resist, so I just stuck to the essentials. Anyway...I'm ready and excited for summer now!

Baby Blanket

About 2 weeks ago I finally finished the baby blanket that I was working on for a friend, I think it turned out beautifully and I am so very excited for them to use it with their little one. I thought I'd post a picture here for anyone who hasn't already seen it on Facebook. Now that I have completed the blanket I have started knitting some more dishcloths. My Grandma saw the ones I knit for my mom and wanted a few. Once I am done with those I plan on knitting another baby blanket for one of my college roommates who is due sometime in July. I debated knitting her one identical to this one but I think I'll pick out a different one for her...just to keep things a little different.

Pure Joy

So we've been leading a pretty boring life these days which probably explains the lack of posts. However, I feel like I should at least give little updates on the princess who keeps you all coming back and reading.

So here goes...

This is still my favorite age with her, she is so fun, getting more independent and yet she still loves to snuggle up with mommy. She loves to be chased and constantly wants to be outside. Pretty much all day every day she says, "wanna go bye-bye" and "outside" it makes me really sad when the weather outside is crappy and I can't take her out. Last week we had several rainy days and she would literally just stand at the window and look out. She loves to climb up and down stairs and while at B's parent's place last week she got pretty good at it; she was able to climb up and down slowly all alone as long as she held on to the rail - we did of course stay close by in case something went wrong. Not all is happy-go-lucky about this stage though. Her favorite word is "no" even if it's something she actually wants. She can throw some pretty intense tantrums (though fortunately for us they are few and far between) and she hates shoes (makes me question if she's really mine, haha). And that's it...that's all the bad! I feel pretty lucky about that, there are days when she tests my patience more than others, but all-in-all I LOVE being her mommy. She is constantly adding words to her vocabulary and now songs to her knowledge base. She still sings "EIEIO" from Old McDonald, she can sing parts of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, she has "ABCDFG" (skipping the E, probably because it sounds like D and E run together) from the alphabet song, she's been signing the Barney Song for quite some time now. She still runs to me and gives me a hug whenever I have my arms stretched out. She has finally started showing some interest in playing with baby dolls, although she typically tosses them to the side when she's done. She has her daddy wrapped around her finger...and she knows it. She realizes that when mommy says no, daddy might say yes (but not if he knows what's good for him, haha).

To sum it all up...she is pure joy!!!

Happy Easter

I know Easter was several days ago but I'm behind in getting all the pictures posted. We went to Canada to spend the weekend with family and fun was had by all. Y had a ball climbing up and down the stairs, she would stay there for hours if you allowed her to. Anyway, here are some pictures from our weekend.