This is the way we water the plants...

...and ourselves while we're at it!

Loving the Sun!

little boy/big shower

Michael enjoyed his first shower at Mimi and Pa's yesterday. He even helped out with the squeegee:)

Happy Memorial Day!

We decided that we didn't see enough of my parents this weekend, so we headed over there for a Memorial Day BBQ. The weather was perfect and we showed up just in time for Michael's nap. That meant relaxing in the sun with a few drinks (which I'm never going to complain about). My favorite little guy woke up just in time for the best dinner ever....pulled pork sandwiches!

Michael's favorite cat Emma was in attendance.

We never get pictures taken together, so I'm thrilled to have this one.
Michael is mastering the skill of being gentle, that is when he doesn't greet Emma with a kick:)

Since we ate earlier than normal, Michael had 2 bites of watermelon and licked a pickle.

Olen and Justine enjoyed the pulled pork.

My dad enjoyed the margaritas and the wine.

And like always, Mike enjoyed America.

Memorial Day Eve (if there is such a thing)

My parents came over on Sunday night for dinner. While I was busy cooking, my dad entertained Michael and got some pretty cute pictures while we was at it!

1st Overnight Adventure

While Mike and I were busy eating too much, drinking too much and spending too much money in Portland, Michael was having good clean fun at my parents house...

Holding a flag he stole from a neighbor's yard...making me proud:)

Having a little too much fun without mom and dad around.

Visiting the Woodland Park Zoo with Mimi and Pa.
Hydrating after all of the excitement.
Not quite sure what a huge ball is doing at the zoo, but I'm into it:)

Thanks for watching Michael last weekend Mom and Dad! Mike and I had a great time running around like teenagers without a worry in the world!

Seller Beware

Hey Keith...I have a new Worst Person in the World for you!

So here is our inspection update. Yesterday our realtor Pete called the buyer's realtor and asked about the inspection. She said that there would be a few minor things that they would be asking for, but nothing big. These things included fixing some mortar around the chimney (about a $450.00 job), and replacing a few rotting deck boards (which Pete thought was strange because the inspector had to climb under the deck to see this and I guess that decks aren't usually inspected). Anyways, these are totally things that Mike and I would be willing to have fixed, or give money to a buyer to get fixed. Well 48 hours after the inspection our realtor finally gets official word. OUR BUYER HAS BACKED OUT. Not over the inspection though, its because she called the roofing company that we used to replace our roof last year and she decided that she didn't like the material they used. WHAT? First of all, who calls someone's roofing company, especially if nothing was wrong with the roof during the inspection, and second of all who backs out of a deal when nothing was majorly wrong with the house?

There are a few things that you should know about this Runaway Buyer. She is a single 50 year old woman with 2 small dogs, who lives with her sister and has been looking for a house for 2 years. She has backed out of a deal before over an electrical panel, so ours isn't her first. If you are planning on selling your house, Seller Beware!

Anyways, we are moving onto plan B. Pete will be working in overdrive to get our house sold. Our offer on the house in Gig Harbor will become contingent on the sale of our house now, and not the closing.

To tell you the truth, Mike and I are in a strange way relieved that she backed out of the deal. There were too many warning signs that she was going to be difficult, and the type that may come back later to haunt us. Everything happens for a reason and if we are supposed to stay in our cozy house in Fircrest for a while longer then so be it.

Pete, bless his heart told us that he has been into motivational tapes lately, so we need to think positive thoughts and I agree. We are moving forward and remaining thankful for all that we have. I will keep everyone posted on our situation as things unfold. In the mean time Mike and I will be going to Portland to see our good friend Chad get married this weekend. It will be our first getaway together since Michael was born and I am really looking forward to forgetting about this house stuff for awhile and having a great time with our friends!

Keeping our Fingers Crossed

As many of you know, we have had our house on the market for about 4 months now. I know a lot of people think we are crazy selling our house in this economy, but we figured if we take a loss on our house now, we can get into a house that we probably wouldn't be able to afford in a better economy.
We decided last November that we wanted to move into a bigger place. I wanted to move to the North End, Mike wanted nothing to do with it because he wanted a "new house." We decluttered and staged our place all of December and went through several houses with our great realtor. He took us through the old houses I liked in the North End and through the new houses that Mike liked. After a long day of looking, we went to one last house in University Place and Mike and I fell in love with it. My dreams of an old house disappeared once I saw the huge closets, new bathrooms, Master Suite, and modern kitchen.
The next day someone made an offer on the house that we loved, but we held out hope because they still had 3 more houses to build in that neighborhood. We immediately put our house on the market (by this time it was the middle of January). Our realtor told us that the average house would sell in 90 days, but that was in a good market.
After 3 long months on the market, 3 open houses, 2 price reductions and several showings we still didn't have an offer. I was getting tired of making our house look perfect and Mike was getting tired of being kicked out of our house for showings.
My mom, not being one to ever hold back, told us that our "sale was stale." She came up with a plan to order a statue of St. Joseph to bury in our yard just like this one.
Apparently home owners in Italy have been burying statues of St. Joseph in their yards for years and swear that houses sell faster when you do this. As soon as my mom ordered this statue, we had a woman request a second showing (always a good sign). As soon as the statue arrived on her doorstep, the woman's realtor called ours and said she was thinking about making an offer. As soon as I put the statue in our house (the pamphlet said this would work too), we received an offer. Here is the little guy working hard in our dining room.

As soon as we accepted the offer, our realtor couldn't get this sign up fast enough. The stapling was music to our ears.

Oh and that house I was talking about in University Place....we sort of switched gears and made an offer on this one in Gig Harbor. We were drawn to the small town feel and the woods that surround the development.

The builder accepted our offer and it is now contingent on the closing of our house, which takes me to the "Keeping our Fingers Crossed" title on this posting. We still need to get through the home inspection on our house, which is scheduled for Monday. Our realtor told us that buyers can walk away at anytime, so we don't want to get our hopes up. I'm not even going to start packing until after the inspection, which by the way gives us less than 2 weeks (and zero weekends, because we will be out of town) to be completely packed and out of here. So please keep your fingers crossed that our inspection goes well and our buyer doesn't get cold feet! I will keep you posted on how our inspection goes.