New Houses!

So we are set to close on the sale of our house on November 30. We still have a couple items on the repair list left to fix, but the packing is coming along. We are headed to Munich from Nov 6 to the 15 and I want most of the work done beforehand so that I can actually relax and enjoy the trip.  I've turned the dining room into packing central and it is starting to fill up with boxes.

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but we are also now under contract to buy two other houses - one for us and the baby and one for Azra and Milada. Hopefully we'll close on both them immediately after the sale - possibly doing all three closings on the same day!

Here is a picture of our new house and here is the link to the listing with more pictures and information.

Outside is great - all brick - even most of the backyard is fenced in brick (with split rail across the back). Inside, pretty much everything needs to be painted - from the kitchen cabinets to the panelling to the trim to the fireplace. But I think after a full paint job and with our furniture its going to be transformed. Its a totally solid house that is really well-built and well-maintained, and most of the mechanical stuff has been replaced in the past two years (new ac, new furnace, new plumbing pipes to the street, new outside electrical box, etc.). We'll need some new appliances as well eventually, but the ones there all work even though they are a bit older.

And here is the townhouse for Milada and Azra and the link to the listing. 

Their house is more move in ready, with recently updated kitchens and baths and new laminate flooring. So its good we won't have many projects at least at one house. Its in a really nice condominium complex with a pool I plan to come over and use next summer! But the best part is that even though its in a quiet residential area, it is a less than ten minute walk from a bunch of grocery stores and restaurants and other stuff so Milada will have access to a lot of stuff even if its another few years until she gets a car.

Fall Fun - Trips and Company!

In addition to buying and selling houses and getting ready for the baby, we've had a lot of other activity lately, including many of our typical fall activities.

We went to the Oktoberfest at the German restaurant that we try to make it too every year. This time we went with a friend of Miran's from work (Virag) and his wife and some of their friends.

We also spent a wonderful half week at Topsail Island thanks to Mom and Dad. It was very relaxing to have a change of scenery and sit around chatting with everyone each day. There was a lot of board game and bridge playing and taking pictures of my baby bump was another popular activity!

 Cecilia and the girls also visited for a week-end right before the beach trip so Mom and Dad and Aunt Maggie were here as well. Miran got a makeover:

 Ingrid read a book to Nanny and Aunt Maggie at the children's library:

 We celebrated Mommy's birthday:

And we spent the day at the Renaissance festival, where Miran and the girls got juggling lessons, the girls both climbed the wall, and they all did archery.

 

 

Halfway there!

Today we are officially at 20 weeks, so halfway through the pregnancy! It is going so quickly, especially lately when I'm totally distracted by this crazy house stuff.

I'm not sure, but I think I might be starting to feel him move. Sometimes I have a sort of feeling like there are bubbles inside me, which could be him swimming around. It is faint and definitely no kicks or anything.

At Margaret's request, here are a couple of recent more attractive bump shots showing where I am at this point.

We accidentally sold our house!

Many of our readers know this story, but if we haven't talked to you in the past week and a half - a lot has happened.

So, after we had our house painted and it looked super cute, I posted it on Zillow using the "Make Me Move" feature where you basically name a dream price, write a short description, and include a few pictures. So we didn't even list it with an agent or post it as for sale by owner. I was just curious to see if the paint job increased the value and if we'd get any views and saves.

Within a few days, an agent contacted us and said he had clients who wanted to see the house. We said ok. A few days later they came back for a second look. The following day they made an offer, which we countered, and then they countered and we agreed.

Last week they sent an inspector and now say they are working on a repair request, but want to send a HVAC inspector first. So we should find out about that this coming week. We hope they don't ask for too much as we aren't planning on agreeing to anything big. The appraiser should come soon and we hope goes well and that the house appraises at the purchase price.

They are working towards an October 31 closing, but have agreed to rent to us for the month of November. This works out well for us as we'll close before having to move, which means we'll have the money to close on a new house if we can find one on time. We are excited about this unplanned life shakeup because if this all works, we stand to make enough money to pay off some debt and get a new house.

I was excited from the beginning, and though Miran was a little more cautious about the whole thing initially, at this point we are both really hope this works as we excited about a new house and changing things up.

Last week we went to look at one house with a realtor that was 85% ok. It was fine really, but neither of us was totally sure about it. The layout was nice and it had a great sunroom and multilevel deck overlooking the woods, but there was some exterior maintenance issues and the garage was very small. The neighborhood had great amenities, but all the houses seemed a little neglected. We are going out tomorrow to see a couple more houses, which are really different from one another, but each have things going for them as well as things we are concerned about. So we'll see. If we don't find something in the next few weeks, we'll probably just find a rental for a couple of months so we can look a little more.

It's a Boy!

We had our second screening ultrasound today. Between the technician and the doctor, we were looking at the baby for 45 minutes. He was pretty wiggly and was mostly face down so they had a little trouble getting all the measurements and taking good photos. They measured everything from different parts of his brain, to his lip, to the chambers of his heart, to the lengths of his limbs. He is perfect and all measurements were normal. They also checked my cervix and somehow how are able to conclude that I am very low risk for preterm labor, so that is good news as well!

Here is an overall shot - he is too big to fit in the frame now at 7 cms from crown to rump.

And here is the shot he'll be embarrassed about in middle school.  It is looking from below in what the technician described as "diaper changing position". But it gives a nice clear view proving he is indeed a boy. Apparently the umbilical cord is also wrapped over it and tucked between his legs. She labeled the legs to help with orientation.

I also had a lot of bloodwork done Monday when I finally met with my obstetrician for the first time. All those tests came back normal. This included the second phase of the sequential screening, which in combination with the tests from 12 weeks confirm he is healthy and there is very little chance of birth defects.

My obstetrician, Dr. Yavorski, seemed very nice and I was comfortable with her. She was very behind and I had to wait quite awhile, which was annoying, especially after taking 6 weeks to get an appointment. Maybe they have too many patients. But once we were talking she seemed patient and made time for all my questions.

I see the obstetrician again in 4 weeks and have another ultrasound in 6 weeks.

16 Weeks

Here is the 16-weeks bump photo a few days late again. Apparently the little guy is the size of an avocado at this point (from head to rump - so longer with legs included). 

It can hear and theoretically I should be able to feel it moving soon, though it may be a few weeks until I realize what that feeling is. Every few days we listen to the heartbeat. We had a little trouble finding it a few times last week but other days it is no problem. So I guess the baby is moving around a lot. I don't have much in the way of symptoms at this point. I guess I have a little less energy than I do normally. No food cravings or aversions.

I've begun researching all sorts of baby related stuff and its a bit overwhelming, but I'm keeping lists and notes for when we are ready to start buying stuff.

Looks like a New House!

The paint crew was super speedy and in two days finished everything. It looks like a totally different house!

Housing Painting - Day One

So the week we are having our house painted has finally arrived. I am so excited I had trouble sleeping last night! Today was just the pressure washing day, but it really does look nice and clean. They took the old shutters off because we have new ones to be installed after the painting is done. I guess the house was white before it was blue!

Tomorrow, when it is dry, they will caulk and scrape the peeling paint. Then finally Wednesday they will start the actual painting.

We did a lot in preparation for this, including massive bush trimming (because things looked crazy and so they can get to the wall better), moving everything out of the carport, and closing all our storm windows (which is a big project in this house because of their age and poor design). I also trimmed the monkey grass in the front so it would look neater in the after pictures.

The back of the house still looks chaotic even though the bushes are trimmed and thinned.

 

And a before and current picture of the front porch. I removed the mailbox and house numbers, and doormat because I've bought new ones - in waiting to accessorize the house once repainted! I think you an get a sense of how clean the white trim is in the after shot here.

Here is just a nice picture of the carport looking so nice with nothing in it - not its usual messy state of affairs.

And finally, this isn't really related to the painting projcet, but her is a picture of the very big, very dead tree in our front yard that we are hoping the city will remove soon (before it falls on us our our house or the neighbors cars).

14.5 weeks

We were a little late taking the picture this time so this is really 14.5 weeks, not 14. I definitely feel like my body is changing. I went maternity clothes shopping today for the first time and bought a couple tops.

We also got a heartbeat monitor this week so we can check on the baby any time we want. So that is fun. Especially Miran loves looking for and listening to it.

We also toured two maternity wards at two hospitals in the past few weeks. I went to one on my own and we both went to the other. Medically speaking they were pretty comparable, so we settled on the one that is already within the same records system as my endocrinologist, prenatal testing center, and the obstetrician with whom I've been trying to get an appointment. They final got my records from REACH this week so as soon as the doctor reviews them I'll finally be able to schedule an appointment.

12 Weeks

I am now over 12 weeks pregnant - here is the bump shot. I don't think it has changed too much since 10 weeks.

I'm still feeling a bit queasy - in fact this past week was one of the worst, but I hear it should end soon so that is good news. That is my only real symptom, other than still getting tired more easily. On Friday I took my last injection, which was pretty exciting. I got a shot (or two) every day from May 7 to August 7 - so for exactly three months! I'm very glad to be done with that phase. Here are five full "sharps" containers that need to be disposed of:

To prepare for the second trimester, which begins next week, today I did a big closet switcharoo. Mommy passed through town for a few hours and we went through all the maternity clothes from Cecilia and Margaret. I tried everything on and chose what to keep and washed it all and hung it in my closet. That of course required removing a whole lot of stuff that is already a little tight and that I probably wont wear for another 8 or 9 months! So I really feel pregnant with a closet full of pregnancy clothes!

Staunton 2015, part 2 - party day!

The last day I was in Staunton all the DeRoche's came over and it was wonderful to spend the afternoon catching up with everyone and getting to know Megan and Patrick's children. Here is a random shot of the general chaos of the day.

Here was an attempt to take a picture of the all the second cousins - the little ones weren't having it!

 Mom and Dad on their 29th anniversary!

 Mom and Lee!

 The guests of honor posing with the 4-layer lemon cake I made!

Uncle Patrick admiring Megan's newest arrival, Kenji.

 Megan and Patrick with their families.

 A panorama of us all enjoying the wonderful weather hanging out outside.

Staunton 2015

Last week I spent the week at Mom and Dad's in Staunton as I do every summer when Margaret and Cecilia are both there with their kids.

We went to a fun natural playground in Lexington, where we had a picnic, and stopped to see Robert E. Lee's grave on the way home.

One afternoon Cecilia, Margaret and I went to Megan's to meet baby Kenji. Here is a nice shot of Lee and Jim with Megan and her children.

 There was a lot of playing on the porch, playing Uno, and playing in the hammock going on all week.

Mommy, Cecilia, Margaret, and I had a spa day, 18th-century style - meaning we went for a swim in a bath house designed by Thomas Jefferson and which has been in use since 1761.

And a few other random shots - of Ingrid reading to the other kids, of Maggie knitting socks for our baby, and of Ingrid and I taking a selfie.