We bought a house!!

It was an interesting process buying a home. Many times I was confused and terms didn't make sense. I had to talk to lots of people, lenders, realtors, utility agents, insurance agents, people at city hall, etc. I very much dislike talking on the phone, especially to people about this type of stuff. I had to get over my fear and just call all the people on my list.

We were given an amazing realtor named Matt Twomey. He walked us through the process wonderfully. I walked through homes with Matt and TJ during the week, sometimes 5-7 a day. And then we'd take Todd through our favorites on Saturday. We started looking around Thanksgiving and went home for Christmas mid-December.

I had one house that I'd found and wanted to put an offer in on before we went home for Christmas. It had everything we wanted. 4 bedroom, 2 bath, over 2,000 sq ft. It was a great layout, a perfect sized backyard, in a great school. It had been on the market for awhile and I truly didn't think it would still be there when we got back from Christmas. Matt and Todd were against that idea and Todd said, "If it's meant to be our house, it'll be there when we get back." PSH! You can't throw that on me.

We wait. I watch my phone. Every email from Redfin, Zillow or Trulia, my heart drops as I scan the email for the address saying that that house is gone and under contract. I never got that email. Thankfully.

At the end of the Christmas vacation, I called Matt and said we needed to look at the house one more time and then we'd make an offer. Todd said he wanted to look at a few more, just to be sure. Just to make sure there was nothing else out there and that we'd seen almost every house we could. Then we'd know and feel comfortable with our decision. I told him HE could look if he wanted to. I was done looking. I'd found our house. He found 2 more homes to look at.

We walked Apollo (the home I KNEW we were buying). We couldn't find the light switches for 2 rooms. We walked the house and there was a lot wrong and weird about it we hadn't seen before.

Deep down I knew we wouldn't get that house. My mind wanted it but there was something or someone telling me that it wasn't going to be our house. I was ignoring that feeling knowing that it was the best house I'd seen. I wanted that house so badly, but knew it wouldn't happen.

We saw 2 other homes that night. And we liked both of the other homes more than Apollo.

We walk into Blake (the home we bought). I had seen this house online but the photos were terrible and made the house look small and nasty. We walk in and were pleasantly surprised. Todd had an opinion. He was excited. He had ideas to improve the home. He was energized and present. I hadn't gotten much out of him in any of the other homes we'd walked. This one was different.

I went and saw the house in the light the next day and we made an offer. After a little negotiation we came to a great price and everyone was happy.

We closed on Feb 12th.

Closing was NOT even close to as bad as people say. No, my hand did no cramp up. No, my signature didn't deteriorate at the end. Yes, it was fun. Yes, it was exciting. I didn't know we were almost done. It went by so fast.

Todd and I are homeowners. We are having fun fixing and painting our house. I'll keep posting before and afters and the progress we are making on the home. :) I can't wait to see how it all looks done and when we are moved in.

Pulled up to the title company. :D

Our new home

General Conference Invitation to all

Every 6 months The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints gathers together all over the world and listens to God's prophet and his apostles speak to us. It is a live broadcast to many television and radio stations as well as live streaming to www.lds.org. If you are interested in what the living prophet has to say about the times we live in and the things we need to do, please tune in Saturday and/or Sunday. The prophet, Thomas S. Monson, isn't just the prophet for our Church, he is God's prophet for the world, for every person living on it at this time. God wants us to hear Him and this conference is one of the ways He shares His continuing message.

God had prophets like Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses and God is an unchanging God. So why wouldn't he have a prophet at all times in earth's history?

God has said, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (D&C 1:38)

Join us this weekend. Ask your Latter-Day Saint friends about it. Go to www.mormon.org for answers to many questions from members of our congregation throughout the world.

Download the free printable: http://www.mediafire.com/?9c4h33595kb3g5t

Potty Train

Mr. TJ is on the potty train! He showed signs of readiness about 6 months ago but I totally ignored them because I was too scared to potty train him. Potty training is training for both the kid and the parents. You have to remind. You have to know where the bathrooms are at all times. You have to clean up messes. You have to teach. You have to dedicate yourself completely. It's a tough job. 

Potty Training Day 1:

We halfway potty trained Saturday and Sunday. We just tested the waters. Diapers on at naps and bed. Diaper through church. No plan just underwear. 

We truly started to train him yesterday. I bought a potty training guide online and read through the pages. Saturday we didn't follow any of her guidelines and rules. As I was reading I was like, "Nope, didn't do that. Hmmm not that either."

I printed out a sticker chart. He's a sticker man and they motivate him pretty well. We gave him a sticker and a hot wheels car when he peed in the potty. We were desperate. Just freakin' pee! He had about 80% accidents, 20% in the potty. The only times he peed in the potty were while Madi was here and when Daddy got home. I guess I'm not that important to impress. :) it was really frustrating at times but those times that he got it and peed were like the best times of my life!! It was so great and I felt so proud. 

At one point, he ran into his room and slammed the door. BIG CLUE: he was going to poop. I run over there but he's holding the door shut from the other side. I keep pushing back and saying we need to poop in the potty but he screamed and said to go away and I couldn't come in! Finally I pushed that door open and grabbed him and ran to the bathroom. Too bad there was already a lump. While pushing against the door with all his might, he pushed that poop right out. 

He would say he needed to pee and we'd rush to the toilet and he'd sit there and say that he was done or didn't need to pee and we'd get off and go play for another 5 mins and do it over again. After 2-4 times doing this, he'd have an accident. Whew. 

The pump hasn't been the struggle I thought it would be. We just work around it and attach it to his underwear. 

The biggest problem has been aiming. He's sitting to pee but his little wiener points straight out to the wall. A couple of times he was peeing into the toilet but the stream would go under the seat but on top of the bowl and spray out onto his underwear and the floor. T_T

The program we are using suggested that we make the kid clean up their accidents with you so they learn about that consequence. TJ is different. He LOVES to clean. There was one point the first day where he peed on the carpet and as he was standing there he said, "Let me squeeze it (the cleaner bottle) and wipe it up!" At that point I realized it wasn't a punishment or learning moment, it was a reward to clean. I stopped letting him help right away. 

Potty Training Day 2:

He wakes me up by yelling, "MOMMY I NEED TO GO POTTY!!" I jump out of bed so happy knowing he was in a diaper and still decided to pee in the potty. Today was going to be a great day!! I pulled his diaper off and he sat down and peed!!! Wow I was so dang proud of him! 

Throughout all of day 2 he only had 2 pee accidents and still pooped in his underwear. 2! Out of about 10 on day 1. Something just clicked I guess. He always told me when he needed to pee. Sometimes he would be pee shy and we'd put his pants back on. And we'd try again 5 mins later. Near the end of the day he asked me to step out while he peed. :) Pretty cute but I stay there to make sure he's aiming down. It's a little scary to walk away. 

We were able to get out of the house for a bit yesterday. We went to our leasing office so I could sign our lease renewal. We also drove to a friends house and back. I was worried so I put a towel in his lap while we drove just in case we had an accident. I didn't want it all on his carseat. 

Overall he has done so well. I couldn't be more proud. 

Potty Training Day 3:

No accidents today! He peed and pooped in the potty! The poop was an awesome accomplishment. 

We were allowed to leave the house for an excursion today so we went to the mall. I had to do some Father's Day shopping. 

The mall is a bad idea with a potty training kid. The bathrooms are few and very far between. We were in the Disney store and TJ started dancing and grabbing himself. He started to tell me he needed to go potty but stopped knowing he'd have to leave the store. I didn't care and we rushed to the nearest bathroom which was Macy's. We were in the store right next to Macy's but the bathroom was on the exact opposite side of the store. Finally we get into a stall and I set him on the potty. He freaks out and freezes. He's been in public restrooms with me before and always wants to be part of the process in getting tp and flushing. Nope. I was kneeling on that nasty floor for about 30 mins. Begging TJ, bribing TJ with all that I had. I knew we couldn't go back to the Disney store cuz he wouldn't make it back without peeing his pants. Or if he did, we'd have to make that trek again if he decided he did need to pee again. 

We finally left that bathroom. TJ in tears. And probably traumatized after about an hour. We stayed around there just in case. I decided to give him a snack to calm him down and speak to him. I checked his blood sugar and he was at 43!!! That's pretty low and really affects your mood in a negative way. No wonder he was having the worst time. 

I decided to give up and just let him pee his pants. I never wanted to be the reason he had an accident like because of my failure to act but I was done and tired. We picked up Todd's watch and headed home. He still never peed so I put him in a diaper for nap. Never leaving the house again. 

*UPDATE: TJ has done great the rest ofte week. A few accidents but hardly any. He's peed at the park in the grass twice and in the parking lot. He still hasn't peed in a public restroom but I wouldn't if I had the choice :) last night his diaper was dry in the morning and at naps his diaper has been dry. He's really good and has started wanting to stand up to pee like Daddy. He decided that all on his own with no pushing from me. He's not too bad at aiming too ;)

Easter FHE

Todd and I realized that we haven't really done FHE and geared it towards TJ. We would just do it when he went down.
But it's called Family Home Evening not couple spiritual thought time.

So here's what we did for our first real FHE.

First we read the Easter story from the book series Alice goes to Bibleland. Loved these as a kid.

Then we did an Easter egg hunt in our living room. TJ practiced his hunting skills as we gear up for his 3 Easter egg hunts this week!

Inside each egg was a letter or a picture and some candy.

We went through the letters and spelled Easter and talked about the pictures.

Then we each colored our He Is Risen coloring page. There's nothin like watching your husband color :)

TJ's picture

My picture

Todd's picture

Then we sat at the table and ate our candy.

It was pretty productive and it kept TJ occupied and present. I think he learned that Jesus isn't in the "cave/tunnel" anymore. And he's alive. Pretty good, I'd say.