Miles of Smiles: August 2014

I'm sure that is the big question in your mind since it is only 18 days away (yikes!!!). Well, good question. We'd sure like to know. The four options are as follows:

1). Miraculously find a perfect house within that time frame, store our stuff until closing, and live in an Extended Stay. We are praying this turns out to be the option that happens!! We believe in miracles :)

2). "Settle" on a house that is currently on the market, as in not a perfect house for us, or paying more than we wanted to (and still not be a perfect house).

3). Sublet an apartment until December (which will hopefully still be available when we decide) and store most of our stuff and continue looking for houses.

4). Rent for 6 months or a year and partially unpack, but bring all our stuff with us.

Why haven't we found something? Well, since we are hoping this is our long-term house, we've been a little picky. Also, Cedar Falls is the desired spot to live, not Waterloo and consequently, the market is good...if you are a seller. We've been interested in several homes only to have them be sold before we could either look at them or put an offer down. We are hoping the market summer rush/get in before school starts rush is over and we will have a little more time. Being pressured to buy something or rush down to see something the day it comes on the market in hopes to beat out someone else is not our style. I did that once last week and it didn't pan out :( This was one day after I had asked my realtor to check out a brand new house on the market for us and it sold in one day, so I was a little panicky. Ok, that was a little extreme, but basically if it is a good house and a good price, they go fast. Lastly, our price range has a low inventory of houses, so that doesn't help. I guess this is part of the "small town" issue that you don't have quite as much of in Mpls.

So far, we haven't been seeing stuff sell as fast in the last week or two, but maybe that is because they aren't great houses...who knows. There are still a lot out there and a couple that are good options, just not great options. We are people who analyze things quite extensively, so we maybe put more thought into our purchase than others...

Anyways, believe me, you will know when we find a house b/c I will be extremely excited! I am basically addicted to zillow right now and check for new listings several times a day. I was stressed about it for a while, but I've decided to put that burden of worry on the Lord's shoulders. Ahhh, and it felt so much better! :)

Well, that's our house/moving update. I've got a trunk full of donations to drop off soon, which feels great, but I've got more to go. Time to clean up & clean out!

(This probably should have been in the last post--Blake borrowed a car from Omi's neighbor :) )

Ok, get a lot documented in a short post and....GO!

1). Sadie was just getting on the first stair in the last post??? Well, today I heard a LOT of giggling between Blake and Sadie and I had just sent Blake to his room, so he must not have gone....Nope! He went, but so did Sadie!! She was at the second to top stair when I found her and thank goodness she didn't fall! She has a little trouble sometimes on the turn on the stairs b/c it gets super narrow in the corner and also thankful Blake didn't knock her down as he was next to her the whole time!!!

Her next big thing is last night I decided to teach her Sooo Big! and she caught on like a champ (I had also done it the night before but I was amazed at how fast she learned it--apparently I started too late :) ). Here is a little video of her doing it and also showcasing her ability to stand without support for a second! I just love how she obliges me while she is trying to read...!!

Sadie is soooo big!

2). Blake is talking a lot now and loves loves loves to play with his friends. We have some fantastic neighbors directly across the street and we have play dates frequently now. Blake always asks to go "see friends." :) One family just moved in this summer and they moved from Golden Valley, MN (which is the city just next to Crystal where we lived in Mpls)! They have three kids and are always wanted to play with Blake, so it's been great having them here! He is sporting a nice bump on his head from when he was playing with said friends--he fell out of the wagon when he stood up and then they started pulling the wagon. Here is a clip of Blake in the morning when Scott got up with him (it is about 3 minutes long, so watch at your convenience) :)

Our big boy

3). And as documented in pictures below, we've been going to weddings, hanging out with family, spending time at home while Scott works on his thesis, playing video games, more wounds, etc etc etc. :) :)

Blake taking me and Sadie's picture. I was bending over b/c most of the pictures cut off my head :)

All of a sudden, the high chair is appealing again. If Sadie does it, Blake wants to do it too :)

Whoops, another wound while playing with the neighbors! They have a fairly steep driveway and Blake took his big wheels down the driveway when I wasn't looking and went out of control and skinned up his nose. Poor boy. He takes the injuries well though and after a good cry, is back to playing.

Blake loves to come and join us in bed in the morning. This particular morning, he wasn't quite ready to get up though, and fell back asleep in my spot:) Usually, he just jumps around, if he joins us at all. Lately, he'll just come wake us up and then go play or demand breakfast :)

Building a deck at Grandpa and Grandma's house (actually, my brother Kyle was, but the kids were more than willing to help and Kyle graciously let them help)

Playing Apples to Apples outside while we watched Kyle work :)

Blake & Sam working hard!

Mom & Sarah playing with us and the kids (we played a revised, kid friendly version and it turned out great)!

Blake and his second cousin, Kelvyn. Aren't they adorable!?!

Had to get another one. I kept mistaking Kelvyn for Blake with his super blonde hair!

Blake and his first attempt at video games. Cute picture, but he won't be playing much of these if I have anything to do with it! :)

Dad and...hmm, what was this picture for...I think he just bid blind nola in 500...and won?? Nope, that doesn't seem right for the scores...I believe he was showcasing that after 6 hands we were both tied at 280, haha!

Good hand?? :)

My adorable little girl eating!! Love this face so much!!

I love her face when she is picking up food :)

Sittin back and relaxing with grandma (foot is up on the high chair)

Oh yeah, and Blake decided to go egg Grandpa's basement. Um, sorry about that Dad!

This was after a little clean up of shells, but you get the picture. Thankfully, Sam came and told me Blake was throwing eggs in the basement. It could have been a lot worse!