Why House Hunting Sucks

Today was difficult annoying.

as many of you know, Ryan and I are house hunting. We're looking in a specific area and we're trying very hard to find The Perfect Starter Home. 

I know that phrase seems like an oxymoron but i am of the firm (read: idealistic) belief that it doesn't have to be. I am keeping my eye opened for our veritable Diamond in the Rough. 

although recently the emphasis seems to be on Rough and not so much on Diamond. 

Ryan and I watch enough House Hunters and Property Virgins to know that we are going to have to make some compromises during this search for our home. The problem is that it seems like so far everything is a compromise. 

We went into this looking for a three bedroom, two bathroom house in a certain school district which is pretty large and includes at least three towns. So far, we haven't been able to find anything that fits that criteria at all in that area and is also a.) affordable, b.) NOT in the shady parts of those towns or c.) free of a Home Owners Association fee. 

I love that, by the way. The HOA nightmare. 

it makes no sense to me. They build townhomes and condos which are apparently the ideal homes to live in when you're just starting out and yet when you take these HOAs into consideration, you're really spending more than you would be on a SFH (Single Family Home for those of you who don't spend all of your free moments downloading real estate apps to your phones). 

But all of the Single Family Homes in our price range are either clearly haunted or are falling down. 

So compromises, right? okay, here are the things we've compromised on so far:

- price (we started looking in a higher price range and we STILL can't find anything that's decent)

- location (we expanded our horizons to include places far enough away that you can literally see farm animals on your way there...still nothing)

- number of bedrooms (why is it that these 2 bedroom homes are either smaller than what some bums live in OR they are just as high cost as regular houses?)

none of these compromises have yielded us any real results. It's almost as if the House Gods are looking at us and laughing their heads off. 

It seems like in order to get anything even remotely decent in the areas we like we're going to have to magically find $30,000 more. Anyone reading this wanna help me out with that? 

didn't think so. 

And so our search continues and I too will continue to stay up late into the night fanatically scrolling through zillow and trulia and stalking everyhome.net while my son and husband sleep because i am hell bent on finding us a cute and affordable and inhabitable first home. 

we just might be in our 90s when we finally get to move into it.

Henry Update!

So it's been a while since I've written an update about my beautiful son. I will share the latest update here:


Age: 11 weeks 4 days
Weight: he's a big boy! He's about 17 pounds now lol
Length: not sure specifically but he's in 6-9 month clothes. i would guess he's about 26 inches long
Eye color: i'm pretty positive they're transitioning right now. they are blue/grey/green at the moment. i'm really interested to see what color they turn out to be!
Hair: lots and lots of straight brown hair
Sleep: doing great, he goes to bed around 10:30 or so, sleeps until almost 5:00AM, eats and goes back to sleep until 7:15ish when Daddy leaves and then he eats again and sleeps in bed with me until about 8:15 or so (9:00 if i'm REALLY lucky)
Food: om nom nom breastmilk

Henry Likes:
- his new high chair! he loves to sit up and talk to everyone
- his dog Scout that you can plug in to the computer and it says his name and everything! so cool
- laying on a blanket on the floor and playing with everyone
- having his feet out of his sleep sacks so he can kick
- mommy's boobies
- splashing in the bath with his hands
- when mommy sticks out her tongue and says "blah blah blah blah"

Henry Doesn't Like:
- getting dried with the hooded part of the towel
- anyone touching his head ever
- having his nails cleaned
- being put down while sleeping
- too much time underneath the play gym
- being stopped in the car for too long
- being too hot

Milestones:
. we set up Henry's high chair today and he loves chatting to us in it. So cute
. he smiles so much and is just sooo talkative
. he really, really holds his head up well now
. can roll halfway over!
. he's really aware and intelligent. he's very conversational and engaging
. he smiles and laughs and thinks about things
. he really pays attention to his dog toy that talks to him and sings and says his name

cute memories from this week:
- putting him in his high chair for the first time, he smiled and laughed and told me big stories
- i got out of the shower today and he was laying on his little bed i keep in there and i said, "hi!" and he said, "hi!" back at me LOL it was totally coincedental that the sound he made was exactly like the word "hi" but it was sooo funny!
- he smiles and talks to me while i do my makeup and hair
- sometimes he pops off the boob just to give me a big smile
- recently when he falls asleep he'll just let out this huge laugh in his sleep! it is SO CUTE
- he LOVES bath time so much, he grins at me and plays and just laughs and talks to me...twice early in the week he cried when he had to get out!
- he kicks his feet and waves his arms around when he plays on the floor, he gets so excited
- today he woke up in his swing and talked to the sheep on the mobile for several minutes! he was happy to see them
- in the morning he is so glad to see me :) he gives me the biggest smiles ever and i love it so much

he's wonderful and i love him soooo much

but anyway, here are some pictures from this week!:



just ate


mmm


being held by his Aunt Heather who he loves


snuggling on aunt Heather


quit taking my picture, mom!




this one's kinda crazy! he's looking right at the camera


i'm sure most of you saw this on facebook...it's the dork onesie that Ryan's brother gave us for christmas lol


new high chair!


lol


high chair = intense


this one cracks me up






so there we have it!

yay!

photoshoot: Baby Taylor!

The other day I was lucky enough to photograph this beautiful little girl!

Here are some of the shots I got:











Sophie the Giraffe is delicious!







































so yay there she is!

and because people have been asking me: yes, i'm totally available and willing to do photos of kids, pets, couples and families :) just send me an email or facebook message!

with love

When my son wakes up in the night, my husband gets up and changes him while i get myself ready to feed him. The routine is the same: Ryan lifts him from his crib, turns on the hall light which allows him enough to see by but not enough to wake up the baby even more. I scoot over and pull up the boppy pillow that we keep next to bed, tuck a cloth down my shirt to catch any leakage from the other side and then wait to be handed the baby. While the baby eats, Ryan climbs back into bed next to me and falls back asleep.

After ten minutes I'm often the only one awake. My son will have his arms around my neck at that point, his head resting on my shoulder as i gently pat his back and Ryan will have his arms wrapped around my leg, a gesture he has adopted as his own personal way of saying goodnight again after he's returned to bed.

It strikes me in those moments that I don't know where the world would be without women.

How it is possible that in our history there is oppression of women is beyond me. Look at how we're needed, look at how we provide. I am a source of endless emotional strength, nourishment and care. I am the source of boundless compassion, kindness and an overflow of love.

I don't say these things to sound obnoxious or self-promoting, i point them out to illustrate just how a mother and a wife a contribute to a family (not that this is the only way in which we contribute, of course, but it strikes me as one which is so often overlooked as being fundamentally important).

We provide that warmth in the nighttime. We provide that place of stability and care. Mothers are the ones still awake in the dark for others to cling to and to turn to for security. We are the ones who are there when you wonder if you will always feel love, if you will always feel emotionally safe, if you will always have someone to admit your fears to. We are the ones who will be there in those times of need and as long as you treat us well and show us kindness, love and respect, you will always have us as that place of hope, as that person to hold on to in the night.

Imagine a world without the nurturing kindness of a mother. Imagine a world without the loving understanding of a wife. Imagine a world without the gentle compassion of a girl. What kind of world would that be? How could anyone ever take those things for granted? How could anyone ever not fully appreciate all of the ways in which women have helped to bring security and peace of mind to so many in this world?

Women do so much all the time. They give compassion, they give kindness, they give trust, they give hope, they give strength, wisdom and insight and yet somehow it seems as if it is easy to overlook them, easy to disregard them, easy to take them for granted.

Think about what your life would be like if you were missing the women you have in it right now. Imagine how it would be different. Imagine who you would be if you didn't have that woman to turn to or to reach out to when you needed to. Imagine if you didn't have that shoulder to rest your head on at night.

Make sure you let those women in your life know just how much they matter to you. Chances are you don't show it nearly enough.

Update time!

Wow it's been far too long since i've posted here. So much for making this my regular blog-space huh? I guess old habits die hard. I'm working on it though.

I'm gonna use this space to try and catch up on everything:

Henry



Henry has finally entered a phase where he allows me to put him down for longer stretches of time now. It's nice and it was definitely needed. He still is a momma's boy though which i love and he does spend a fair amount of time in my arms each day but now he is content to play on his own for a while and his swing has become his major nap area rather than in my lap like it was when he was in the first few weeks of life.



He's grown so much! Like, really, sooo much. He weighs about 14 pounds now and is almost 25 inches long. He's so big! He's 8 weeks old and will officially be two months old on Sunday the 9th.



He can do so many things: he coos and has conversations with me, he can hold his head up, he kicks and waves his arms around when he's excited. He smiles for real all the time and he's even starting to learn to like baths! it's so great having him, he's really an absolute joy in my life and i love him so, so much.

Life

me and Ryan are doing great as parents. We have our routine together down, we are an effective team and it's great. We haven't gotten more than four hours of sleep straight since Henry has been born but we really help each other out taking turns with things and letting each other nap when there is an opportunity and a need.

Ryan has even figured out how to play xbox while watching Henry. That's not my favorite development so far but i think it's one of his.

We had our second wedding anniversary on New Years Eve and it was low key but wonderful. We were able to get out of the house together and see a movie and that was really fantastic for us.

Now we're looking into entering the next phase of our lives - we're starting the process of buying our own home.

We're just looking for a starter home right now but it will be great. Nothing too grandiose at this point, just something to last us a few years and still allow us to save money. We're really, really excited though and cannot wait to get moved in and settled!

okay the baby just woke up from his nap so i hafta go. Just wanted to try and do an update here since it's been so long.