Getting settled

We finally moved last Friday, after several weeks of delay and frustration. Now we're dealing with boxes and boxes, and trying to find room for everything. I think we have enough drinking glasses and mugs to quench the thirst of a small country.

Emma has adjusted very well, and seems thrilled to have her own yard, plus plenty of space to run around in the house. The kitties are adjusting more slowly, and seem quite nervous and insecure. I can't get them to come upstairs (except for the one night Olivia spent 4 hours howling outside our bedroom door.)

So now we're in high gear for the wedding. We need to meet with the vendors again to finalize the details, get the flowers ordered, and put together some packages. I have a final fitting for the dress, which, thanks to a talented seamstress and a corset in the back, may actually fit me. I'm still not showing the pregnancy, so I probably won't be very big when the wedding rolls around.

We are really looking forward to seeing everyone at the wedding. I know it will be an amazing day as we're surrounded by our closest friends and family. I can't wait!

Still homeless!

This is getting so frustrating! We closed 1 week ago today, and still don't have keys to the house! There is some holding company in Texas that needs to sign a document and fax it to be recorded. Apparently this is just too difficult for them to do! Scott and I have delayed movers (again), electrical work (again), and delivery of appliances (again). Our $2 storage unit will now cost us $200, as of this weekend.
Is this even legal? The selling agent has the contact information for the holding company, but isn't sharing it, so we don't even know who to call to complain.
Thankfully my parents are more than willing to let us stay there as long as we need to, but the holding company doesn't know that. What if we weren't lucky enough to have family or friends to live with? What if we were in a hotel?
This is just crazy!

It's a boy!!!

Wow! What an amazing day! I was starting to believe that I wasn't really pregnant. I mean, I still throw up, but I'm not showing at all, and haven't felt anything yet. It didn't quite seem real to me.
And then, there he was, on a 42" screen. This squirming, wiggling creature living inside of me. A beautiful son.(Or a strange looking alien, if we're being honest.) I think Scott and I were both bawling when she told us. I'm not sure that either of us ever thought this day would come. And then to see his face, his little hands and feet, his perfect heart beating. What a gift...

On the house front, I think we FINALLY get the key today!!! This has been so crazy! Seems like it's been one delay after another. We closed last Thursday, then were informed that we couldn't have the key because the bank wanted 3-5 days to look over the Settlement Statement. Whatever...

This coming weekend we'll be busy with the move, the bridal shower, and sharing the news of our sweet son.

Meet me in St. Louis...

Scott and I flew to St. Louis this past weekend to help his grandmother celebrate her 95th birthday!!! We met his parents and his sister and her family, and we all rented this huge house. It was so fun to spend some time with everyone, and a great chance for me to meet some of the extended family before the wedding. Unfortunately, Grandma won't be able to come out to Salt Lake in April, so Scott wanted to introduce us. She's a sweetheart, and I wish we'd had more time to get to know each other!

On the homefront, we're still waiting to find out if we can close on the house tomorrow! The bank switched title companies on us, and now we're waiting for the underwriter to verify that the bank has title to the house. So we haven't hired movers yet, but we're still hoping to be in the house by this weekend.

Emmy has been completely spoiled since we've been staying at my parent's. She doesn't have to be in her crate during the day, which means she's burning off a lot more energy and is much more manageable in the evenings. Grandma gives her lots of treats, and even let her sleep on the bed while Scott and I were in Missouri. She'll have a bit of readjusting to do when we get into the house!

The pregnancy seems to be going well. I still have some sickness, but less than I had a few weeks ago. At least we're headed in the right direction, and we find out the baby's gender next week! Can't wait!

The Moving Has Begun!!!!

Well, I thought it was about time I posted an update of our activities. Rebecca has now officially sold her condo and we hired some movers to get her stuff out and into storage. It was a pretty good way to go since Rebecca hasn't been feeling well with the morning sickness and I got sick over the weekend with a bad sore throat and lost my voice. It took about five hours to complete the move and get her stuff into storage. I also realized that I didn't get a big enough storage unit and we've had to rent another one to put my stuff in this coming weekend.

Rebecca also had a couple of really bad days of morning sickness before the move. She wasn't keeping anything down even water. So, they got her some IV fluids and some strong nausea medication. The same nausea medication that they give to cancer patients who are in treatment. That really made a difference and Rebecca is starting to feel like her old self again and get her appetite back. But, now she, Emma and the two cats are at her parent's house. I'm moving out of my condo this weekend and will be joining everyone. Thankfully, Rebecca's parents have welcomed us with open arms.

Rebecca also did really well on the profit for her condo. Enough for a down payment of the house, new appliances and some new bedroom furniture. I'm hoping to get enough out of the sale of my condo to pay for some of our bigger wedding expenses. I'm scheduled to close on my place on the 25th. I went out last night and purchased a new washer/dryer for the house. Next weekend we are flying back to St. Louis for my Grandma Thompson's 95th Birthday Party. I know she won't be able to come out for the wedding in April and I wanted her to meet Rebecca.

Speaking of the wedding, we have still have some little things to wrap up and we'll be getting the invitations out in the next couple of weeks, but everything else is in place. Still need to book the honeymoon. Just waiting on the sale of the condo for that.

Need to finishing packing up my place and get ready to move on Saturday. Things are moving fast. HOLD ON TIGHT!!

WTF???

Seriously, WTF were they thinking??
This is the garage in our new house. It's BRIGHT YELLOW!!! Please note, not only are the walls yellow, but the WINDOWS have been painted yellow! (See the smiley faces finger-painted onto the glass?) The ceiling is yellow! The back of the garage door is yellow! The stairs into the house are YELLOW!! What were they smoking??

In our first walk-through of the house, we opened the door to the garage, peeked in, and it had a yellow cast. I thought there was yellow paper over the windows. But during the daylight, with the garage door open, Scott and I were blinded by the Pittsburgh Steeler's-yellow! Suddenly we had been transported to the sun!

And what's up with the blood-red door? I never thought I'd feel the need to paint a garage, but this garage will be painted, before it does permanent damage to our retinas!

Our New House!!!

Well, it looks like we're getting close to having a new home to move into. Rebecca will be closing on her condo in a couple of weeks and then if all goes well I'll be closing on mine a couple of weeks later. The house we have under contract is in Sandy, Utah. For those of you out of state Sandy is a southern suburb of Salt Lake City and will put me closer to my work, but give Rebecca a longer commute. For you locals, the house is around 2200 East and 10200 South.

It is a rambler, about 3,000 square feet. Six bedrooms, three bathrooms, finished basement, fenced yard for Emma to run around in, a very open floor plan and in a very desirable neighborhood. The house has been foreclosed; so we are getting it for well under market value for the area. We had a home inspection done on Sunday and even though the house is 20 to 25 years old it doesn't have too many major issues wrong with it. There are a couple of things we'll need to address right away; but a lot of it is comestic or can be done over time. One of the more interesting aspects of the house is the garage; which I'll let Rebecca explain more in detail later.

One thing Rebecca was looking for in a home was a coat closet and we both now realize we don't have one with this house, but I think we can make due. Thankfully, after the inspection we both decided there wasn't anything that would make us not buy the house at this point. This was the only home we looked at that Rebecca felt see could see us living in. We'll need to outfit the kitchen with new appliances and get some new furniture. If the financing comes through we should be able to move in the first weekend in March. It will be good to be in a home before the wedding.

The one logistical downside is that both of us need to be out of our condos before we close on the house. So, we will probably be staying with Rebecca's parents for a couple of weeks before we move into the house. Lucky for us they're willing to have us for awhile.