Cincy

This last weekend I took at trip up to Cincinnati to look for a house. I left the two girls home with Pete. He did a great job with them, which I knew he would. It's nice to know that I can turn things over to him and everything will be ok. My trip was pretty productive. We saw about 20 houses, 2 of them twice. It was a whirlwind trip and I am still exhausted from it. We have an offer pending on one of the houses, so we're just waiting to see what the seller has to say about some of the things we want fixed. What a pain. It seems like all of the houses in our price range are old and falling apart. ;/ I saw some real pieces of junk this weekend. One house smelled like smoke so bad I couldn't breath and had a huge bar just filled with liquor; another house was in such a scary neighborhood that once we got there, we didn't even go in. I told the realtor I wasn't sending my child to school in that neighborhood, so we turned around and left. Another house was super dark and scary and had the family room sliding glass door smashed out. The backyards of 3 different houses opened up to storage units, a mall, and a gravel parking lot. My favorite, though, is the house that claimed to have 1 and a half baths. Here is the picture of what they considered a half bath...

Ahhhhh!!!!

Ok, I need to complain a little bit.

I've been faxing, calling, emailing back and forth to get offers in on two different houses; we were outbid on the first house after much effort; owners finally accept the offer on the second house after a couple of counter offers back and forth; we go and get financing and sign all the papers; we send an inspector over; $500 later it looks like there is a ton wrong with the house and the sale won't go through if the owners won't fix it; I've been trying to get Pete's student loans deferred and get the massive amounts of paper work in for that, which in and of itself is depressing because we owe so much money; packing and going through a bunch of stuff; Abby had shots today and is miserable and crying; I spent 3 hours at UPeds (The ghetto Dr.'s office with a capital "G".) she doesn't nap well anyway so nothing ever gets done; Emily is bored and constantly wants me to play with her, plus she doesn't like that I'm packing our stuff so she gets upset; Pete has to go to Chicago this weekend and take a test that cost us hundreds of dollars, plus the cost of gas and a hotel and food; I will be alone with the kids, which isn't good considering I'm about at my breaking point already; we are supposed to be moving in 4 1/2 weeks and it would appear that we don't have a house to move into; I have gained 5 pounds in the last week and a half--how did that happen?? I'm sure there's more if I stopped to think about it, but I don't think I want to. Glad I could get all that off my chest. ;)

Cincinnati

Well, it's official. The Match was last Thursday, and we're headed to Cincinnati for the next 5 years. The program there is awesome, so Pete will get really good training. I am still trying to get used to the idea. Pete and I are looking at buying a house. I don't know how anyone affords it! We'll have to see if we can come up with something. Abby is crying, so I had better run...

I love you, Dad

My dad passed away one year ago today. I wanted to express how much I miss him. We all miss him. I'm always thinking of different things and wanting to call and tell him about them. He was always interested in what was going on in my life. He was the one I went to for advise on so many things. Tomorrow is Match day for Pete, and I wish he were here to tell me how proud he is of us, and how wherever we end up is the best place ever. I wish he could hold Abby and tell me that I'm a good mom like he always did (even though it sometimes feels the opposite.) He was always so encouraging and positive. He would tell me, "Don't sweat the small stuff; and it's all small stuff" when I would get too overwhelmed. I love and miss my dad so much, but am so grateful for the memories, testimony, and example he left me with.

Going to make it...

Today was a pretty good day. I had one of those days where I felt like, "Hey, I can do this. I'm going to make it and everything will be okay." Having a baby is crazy, at least for me; probably for most people. The lack of sleep, hormones, frumpiness, trying to get the weight off, low energy, baby crying, trying to heal (my incision is taking forever to heal!), feeling like everyone else is normal but you, the misery of breast feeding, etc. But man I love this little baby! She is just such a part of our family now. I'm so glad we have her! So I think I'm going to make it. I am out of the "funk" for the most part and I think I can do this craziness called life/motherhood.

Oh, baby!!

I love this baby! She is so sweet and cuddly. My mom left yesterday, which was awful. Pete's parents came in last night, though, which has been really fun. Emily is loving all the attention from her grandparents. I wish that I could have this much help all of the time. I am jealous of you guys that live close to your family. You don't know how good you have it!

She's Here!

The baby is here! Abby Lynn was born February 4 at 4:39 am. She was 7lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches long. She has lots of dark brown hair and is so beautiful! The C-section was scheduled for the 9th, but I guess she had other plans. I went into labor early that morning. After laboring for a few hours they did the C-section. She is healthy and things are going great!