Buying a house!

Some of you may heard rumors that we have been trying to buy a house. And yes, those rumors are true. A few months ago Scott saw a house online that was for sale in our neighborhood that he liked. I looked at the pictures and took Abby for a walk to go see what the outside and yard looked like. I fell in love immediately. We walked through the house and the love only deepened. Not only did the love deepen but the realtor told us that the house qualified for a down payment grant for certain neighborhoods that are considered somewhat historic that the city wants to upgrade and have families live in instead of renters. That only sweetened the deal for us. We had to attend 6 hours of classes with the city where you learn all about mortgages and lending, buying a house and the paperwork involved and what to look for, etc... It was a lot of information and it felt like information overload at the end of each 3 hour session but it was invaluable information. You also attend a one on one budget counseling session with a counselor before you get a certificate saying you graduated from the class and can apply for the grant. I would recommend this class to anyone who wants to ever own their own home, no matter how far in the future it may seem.
We looked at house again with Scott's parents who liked it. Eventually we decided to put in an offer and discovered that they had dropped the price of the house the day before we met with our realtor and wrote an offer. The process has been very drawn out and frustrating over the last two and a half weeks(it's an estate sale)but we finally were able to get the seller to sign an offer yesterday! So, we are under contract and now have to get an inspection, etc... to find out what condition the house is really in. After a trip to the county offices and some time spend looking through the big books of old records written by hand in spidery cursive we discovered the previous owners had lived there since 1965. So, the house definitely needs some updating. We are pretty excited about the idea of owning our own house.  So, we hope to be moved in by the new year if everything works out with the inspection, grant, etc..!

The nice backyard was another draw for us.

The house has a lot of character! I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but it has a round door and cove ceilings. It is on a little over an eighth of an acre and 2,000 square feet. There is a bedroom and a den upstairs (it's really a bedroom but the closet is outside the bedroom door) and two bedrooms in the basement. The basement is half finished and that was done at least 50 years ago so it needs a major update! It will be nice to eventually get a washer and dryer in the basement so I won't have to lug our laundry and Abby to the laundromat and try to corral her while doing laundry. There is a detached garage which will nice for all of our outdoor equipment.

First Snow!

This past Saturday we all went up the canyon for a little hike to see the first snow of the season. We drove up until the road turned to dirt and then drove some more. I think our Corolla must have been a jeep in a prior life; it seems to get us there no matter the conditions. This time it was mud that would rival some of the meanest looking rally car courses! (for those concerned for our safety, even though it looked like a rally course, we drove more like it was a drivers ed practice area.)

We found a spot and went for a walk up to the top of near-by hill and enjoyed the view. There is something so refreshing about going for a walk in nature; the crisp fall air, getting away from the rush of the city, making memories with the people that mean most to me. It was a lot of fun! It gets me excited for winter to make it's entrance; we just got some snowshoes to help us keep hiking through the coming season.

We also got to test out the new Abby carrying backpack! I left the canopy that came with it back at home but with a little on-the-fly engineering, we were able to keep the sprinkles off our smallest adventurer.

Medicine Cabinet Storage

Our medicine cabinet has never been very organized and I have been on the lookout for a solution that would store our miscellaneous medical supplies in a way that would make it easy to find what you are looking for in a hurry. Lately I have been feeling more urgent about getting everything organized. I received several suggestions that I considered. Some suggestions included a fishing tackle box, small plastic boxes with labels, an over the door shoe organizer and turntables. The over the door shoe organizer was at the top of my list because I liked the smallish compartments that were see through and it would be within eyesight. The problem with that is that Abby is cruising around the walls and furniture and would be able to pull on it and take things out. I contemplated cutting one in half and double hanging it from the top so there would be two layers but it seemed like more work than I was looking for and not the most ideal solution. While at Walmart looking at what my options could be I stumbled across an item that I ended up purchasing and using. I still need to label each pocket but for the moment I am pretty happy with this solution.

I like that it spins around so I can access everything. The pockets are small enough that I can compartmentalize things the way I like it to be. The large shelves in the middle store larger items such as our heating pad, etc...

First Teeth!

Poor Abby has had a hard time lately. When I took her to her 9 month check up they discovered an ear infection (which explained a LOT of things) and put her on antibiotics. Well, antibiotics do some great things and also have some side affects that are not so pleasant for the one changing the multitude of stinky diapers every day. BUT, she made it through all right and then over the weekend started getting super cranky and chewing on things, sucking on ice cubes in her self feeder, etc... On Tuesday I discovered not one but two teeth! The one on bottom is a little farther out than the one on the top. They finally broke through her gums and stuck around. For months they have been moving around and Abby's NP thought she would have teeth by 6 months but she waited until she's almost 10 months. The last day or two she has been chewing on spoons and clicking the spoon between her teeth, up and down and up and down...
Abby hasn't mastered the art of the classic crawl but for the last month or so she has become very proficient at the booty scoot or the monkey crawl. She puts one foot in front of her, scoots the other leg forward a little and pulls herself forward. It's hard to explain but it's oh so cute! And she's quite speedy, especially if the front door or the refrigerator door is open.
I will include some recent pictures of Abby, Scott and I...

Consignment Sale finds

So, this weekend is the huge consignment sale in Sandy that happens every six months. I got up this morning and took Abby to my inlaws so I could shop first thing in the morning while there was a good selection and good deals. In the past I have gone on Saturday when you can get 30% off but you get the picked over things and so I was surprised at how crazy it was when I went this morning right after they opened the doors. It was packed! People were very polite and so there wasn't any trampling but it was busy. Of course, the very best stuff goes at the pre-sale Thursday night that is available to those who volunteer but I had to cancel my volunteer shift this time around. I got some amazing deals and I have to share because I am so excited. Abby's birthday and Christmas are almost completely taken care of and I spent less than fifty dollars. Hopefully some of the things I took to sell will be purchased and offset what I spent at the sale. I went with a list of what abby needed and I didn't deviate very much which took a lot of willpower considering all the super cute clothes and toys and book, etc... they had. Also, they screen items very carefully so it's good quality items which makes it even harder to exert the willpower. :)

The breakdown:
4 pairs of shoes
2 winter sleepers with feet
1 pair pink pants
1 ladybug halloween costume
black shirt and pants to go with ladybug
1 lion halloween costume
1 winter outfit
Shape shorter
3 books
piano with song book
see-n-say
flip flop alphabet-block toy

The halloween costumes ate up almost one third of the total price but they were great prices for costumes and the way they are designed they can be worn by children of several different
sizes and genders.

Making up a pattern

Abigail is becoming quite the little mover and so we had to do some serious baby proofing about a week ago. In the process I realized that we needed to be able to store some things in the bottom part of our entertainment center (which doesn't have doors) and still keep Abigail from playing with them. As a solution we decided to make some fabric panels to hide things so they wouldn't be as appealing for Abby to get into. I am not a terribly great sewer and so I am rather proud of how my project turned out. (I borrowed my mother-in-law's sewing machine) We used small tension spring rods on the top and bottom of the panels to hold them in place. Scott helped me pick out the fabric and it turned out beautifully. The fabric I had semi-chosen would have worked okay before but the same weekend we also got rid of our loveseat in favor of a smaller one that is more to scale with our apartment. The color of the new loveseat would not have worked with my fabric but goes beautifully with the fabric Scott found. I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband! Hopefully this keeps those curious little hands of Abby's out of the entertainment center. Now I just need to do something cute to her box of toys on the bottom shelf in the middle.

Small towns

I've always felt drawn towards living in a small town but couldn't explain why. Last week I spent a few days with my mom while my dad was away on a business trip. She lives in a small town that wants to stay a small town and so they reject the big businesses like Walmart that want to build there. I happened to be there for the first two days of a three day celebration based on the local produce. This is not just an average celebration, it's a big deal and people come from all over for it. I witnessed a few things that helped me better put into words the charm of a small town. For example: they were having a parade on Saturday and people were laying out their blankets and camp chairs along the road on Thursday. Laying them out and leaving them there for two days with the faith that no one would steal them or take their spot, etc... My aunt said they have been doing this for years and nothing has ever been stolen. Example #2 As I was driving home I passed a lot of big produce stands run by businesses and then I passed front yards where residents had put out a bushel of fruit with the price and a can for people to leave their money in. What trust. Being able to live in an environment where you know your neighbors, the children play together and people help each other out on a regular basis is just appealing to me.
Of course there are pros and cons to small towns verses bigger cities but these are some great pros!