CLOSING today!!

OMG! It is officially 'closing on the house' day and we couldn't be MORE excited! We are slowly getting back to a more normal, permanent, stable lifestyle and it feels fabulous. It's like a huge burden has been lifted, though having our condo in NC still on our stressors is getting kind of old. It'd be super-duper if it would be erased from our lives for good sometime soon, but we're going to hang in there and keep the faith that something productive will happen with it in the near future. But, OMG! We are buying our house today!! :)Woo-hoo!

I will be honest and say that we are going to miss being roomies with my bestie Elya and her husband John. It has been a lot of fun seeing them everyday, cooking and eating dinners together, and getting some short breaks from the little lady with E-time (where Elya plays with her for about an hour each day). We will have to figure out some way to meet up and keep some of these dinner dates going in the future. It's been a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of our house from the outside:

We will be turning our own key to this place after just a few hours of signing hundreds of papers...it's going to be a good time! haha. Can't wait!

Holy Moly, double awarded! :)

"The Honest Scrap award comes with a caveat or two. First, you have to tell your readers ten things about you they may not know, but that are true. Second, you have to tag 10 people with the award. Third, let all the people you've given the award to know that they've gotten it (comment on their blogs or something). And finally, make sure you link back to the person who awarded you."

I was given this award by Cassandra and Chelsey, so here are my 'things':

1. I just recently bought myself my very first 'smartphone'. Prior to now, I had the basic flip phone that pretty much came free with a contract renewal. It made calls, set alarms, took pictures, and sent texts. That was pretty much it, but I was very happy with it for many years. I would consider myself a mediocrely-tech-savvy person...definitely not someone who has to have the latest gadget as soon as it comes out though. I got the Droid Eris (the girly version of the Droid), and I love it! It has so much info, so many games and abilities, and is pretty much my little handheld computer. I use it so much! Consider me a convert. :)

2. Along with my husband, I have become quite a fan of bottled Coca-Colas (the Mexican kind made with real sugar cane) and bottled Dublin Dr. Peppers (also made with real cane sugar). We ordered a case of them from Dublin and they were worth it! :) You can find the Mexican cokes on the Mexican food aisle at Wal-Mart (or at Sam's for wayyy cheaper). :) We may be addicts, but we are really trying to cut back on this evil habit. Ha.

3. I never thought I could love something as much as I love my Kennady. I've always heard parents say that, but seriously...somehow I can love her more and more every day that passes. It's easy and unconditional.

4. I am about to pee myself over how happy and exciting it is to think that Chad, Kennady, and I are all going to be in our own HOME (something which many of you probably take for granted...we have been practically 'homeless' nomads for the past year+ and it is SOOO getting OLD!). It's going to be amazing to have a place that feels and really is HOME to us, with friends and family all around us, like it's supposed to be! Yay!

5. Chad and I have pondered and think that we deserve a little relaxation and added happiness, and therefore have decided to purchase a hot tub for ourselves (and anyone that ever comes to visit too, of course :)). We went to look at the spas yesterday and my heart got all giddy. Gotta love a hot tub! :)

6. We are considering becoming Sam's Club members since we can get diapers, wipes, and formula for a lot cheaper than at Target and Wal-Mart. We will probably start buying meats and some freezable things in bulk too, so I think it will pay off! That's exciting!

7. I, on occasion, have really strong desires to be on a cruise ship. It's a fun vacation and a great way to 'get away' and have a blast. We hope to go on another sometime with some friends or family this time. We think it would be crazy fun!

8. I hope that this summer is filled with fun stuff like trips to the park, river floats, home gardening, small shopping trips to San Antonio or Dallas, tanning, lake fun, and crafts. I can't wait for the warmer weather to stick around and for the wind to subside...seriously, GO AWAY WIND! :)

9. I have considered starting a couple of businesses. Not really seriously, but I have a few ideas for them. Some include sewing cute baby things and selling them, others include wedding planning/coordination with friends, and starting a school for ladies that teach small things that we should all know, even if our mothers weren't able to teach us them. Such as basic sewing, cooking, formal dancing, etiquette, how to dress a table, etc. Very Martha Stewart-ish, but it would be a lot of fun!

10. I think I may finally become a coffee drinker. Lord knows that based on how my dentist visits (yes, that was plural) went last week, that I don't need to add anything else to my reportoire that would have negative and lasting effects on my teeth, but it does taste good. I am still a wussy coffee drinker that only really ever drinks it when someone else brews a pot and I still add 2 creamers and like 3 sugars, but maybe one day I will become less of a wuss. It does taste REALLY good with all of those goodies in there though. :)

Well, that was my ten. I would tag people, but I'm really not good at that, so I hope you enjoyed! Talk to ya later! :)

Updates, much needed...

Well, we are all still alive and kickin, though you wouldn't be able to tell from my blog. Hopefully there are a couple of people out there that are still willing to read up on me to see what's happening and haven't lost ALL faith in my inability to find time for blogging. Man, has life been a slight rollercoaster this past month. Chad, Kennady, and I all made our move to Texas (praise the Lord!), and have been happily and gratefully living with my best friend Elya and her husband John in our new town for the past 3 weeks or so. Thank God for gracious and loving best friends, cuz otherwise, we would seriously be homeless or extremely uncomfortable in a hotel somewhere with no kitchen...bleh! We are so blessed by them.

During our stay, we have been tearing up the A-town roads in hopes of finding a house to make our home. The process has been an up and down one that has taken a little longer than expected, but we think we have come to a conclusion at this point, hence why I have a minute to take to catch you up on all of this. We went under 'option' on a house that turned out to be a lemon that was going to need WAY too much work, time, and money to fix so we passed on that one and decided to tear up the streets again. After seeing about 25 more houses, we had still only found 2 that met our criteria and that we would really consider moving into. A little dishearted, we decided to go to a Parade of Homes that went on last weekend and saw 16 new and beautiful homes in which we really enjoyed ourselves, looking at and seeing different floor plans, and speaking to the builders. When we finished there, we considered the idea of building over a 4-6 month period and were all gun-ho for that. Then, we had a small epiphany. We remembered that one of the houses featured and just finished last week was in our price range and that it was close to meeting the 'everything we wanted' criteria, so we went to see it again. We were awe-struck again and decided to put a bid on it. As of today at 5:30, Chad & I are currently under contract for a beautiful, brand new house that we CANNOT wait to get into! Now, the process is in the hands of the banks and we have a small window of time (potentially 20-45 days, give or take) to hang in there before we finally get to have a HOME of our own again! We are so excited! :)

On another note, the Cozarts took Kennady's 3-month pictures a couple of weekends ago and they turned out SUPER-CUTE! Though, I am having the hardest time choosing which ones I want in what sizes, etc. But, I guess having a photogenic baby is not the 'terrible' thing I make it sound like it is, so really I'm having fun. :)

Today and tomorrow I have dentist meetings and I HATE the dentist. Please pray for me. The amount of work I need done is ridiculous. Turns out pregnancy did not agree with my teeth. Boo.

There really isn't a whole lot more I can think of that I need to say right now, so I hope that someone is out there, reading this blog so that I am more motivated to post in the future, haha. :) Hopefully I will be able to post the cutest and most giggly video ever, featuring miss Kennady soon. She just lights up our lives. :) Goodnight all!

Sweet updates...

Sorry for my absence...again. But I really haven't felt all that inspired to write about anything lately. We are almost done here in Alabama...only 2 days left and then we can be on our way back to Fayetteville to finish things up there. WOO HOO! Then, my brother and sis-in-law are coming to visit us and we are all going to the beach for 4 days. It's gonna be awesome! Soon after that, Kennady and I will be boarding a plane for a ONE-WAY trip home to Texas. YAY...I will never have to go to Fayetteville, NC ever again!!

On a baby note, I took Kennady in for her 2-month appointment this morning. She got her first round of shots (it was 6 shots) which were luckily all combined into ONE! Thank God! I thought I was going to have to restrain her for six different needle pricks. Man was I relieved to hear it was only one big shot. She did pretty well...she gave me the frowny upset face as soon as the needle went into her thigh and then turned red while she wailed for about 3 or 4 minutes. She settled down really well though and then we were on our way. She weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces, is 22 1/2 inches long, and is growing healthy and like a weed. Hopefully the shots don't cause fussiness and a fever like I've been told they might.

I won the Amazon.com $100 gift card from 2 posts below. That was so awesome!! I never win anything!! Thanks for the suggestion to enter Cassandra! Love ya! :)

Hope all is good elsewhere. Have a great rest of the week.

Tutu anyone?!

There is a sweet giveaway going on at etsymom.com. StrawberrieRose is giving away one of her many precious tutus for one lucky follower. Check out the details here by Feb. 3rd and enter for your chance to win!

100 bucks?

I thought I would try this out. Would you like to win a $100 from Amazon.com? If so, visit this link:
http://www.fantabulouslyfrugal.com/2010/01/reminder-enter-to-win-100-amazon-gift.html
Maybe one of us will get lucky! :)

Back to reality...

Well, I am officially back in Alabama from my 10 day vacation to Atlanta. What a great time Kennady & I had! We stayed with Chad's cousins, Lisa & Jeff, and their 2 little girls, Emma (5) & Landry (4). They are very precious, sassy little things and so much fun to be around. Lisa & Jeff were awesome too, seeing as they have extensive training in child-rearing and newborn baby care, meaning that I actually got to take a break here and there. There is only so much baby holding you can do before every muscle in your arm, shoulder, and back is in pain and seeking relief. It was nice to hand her off once in a while. Plus, they got to enjoy some baby snuggles of their own, and who doesn't want that?! :)


While we were there, we did a lot of fun stuff. Most of it was done with just Lisa, Kennady, & I, seeing as how Jeff works during the day and the girls are in preschool. Landry's 4th birthday was this past Monday, so they had a Sweet & Sassy party for her at the cutest little girl's salon I've ever seen. They do hair, manis & pedis, makeup, Princess dress-up, all with a little runway for them to show off their look. About 12 little princesses had a great time at the party...and the cupcakes were yummy! :) We ended last weekend by going to see the play Annie at the Fox Theatre in downtown Atlanta. It was sooo good and those little girls are so stinkin' talented. I had little miss Landry on my lap the whole time, so we had fun. From the popcorn eating, to the Sprite sipping, to the sing-alongs, we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent the rest of the week shopping at the outlets, tearing up the mall, at another kid's birthday party, doing Zumba, eating Mexican food, playing Uno, walking through Ikea, & playing with the kiddos. It was a great time and a much-needed break away from this place in Alabama.

Lisa & Jeff are so awesome that they provided me with my first night's sleep without Kennady since she was born. They watched her and fed her through the night so that I could have an uninterrupted night's sleep and it was awesome. Of course, I still woke up quite a few times throughout the night (because that's what mommies do), but it was still great to REST. They did it for us again when Chad got there & we both slept like little babies. It was fabulous and they are AWESOME.

Good Kennady news: She has officially slept through the night for 3 nights in a row. It started with 8 straight hours Thursday night, then 8 1/2 Friday night, then 9 1/2 Saturday night, and what a blessing that is! We are so proud of her and are really hoping that since it's been 3 nights in a row that it's not a fluke. Ha. We shall see if this good fortune continues! She is such a wonderful and sweet baby. We love playing with her throughout the day and hearing her sweet little coos. She has started to smile a bit more & stays awake better throughout the day (unless it's rainy, she likes to drift in and out a lot...kinda like her mommy ;)). Her hair is becoming more noticeable and looks like it might be a light brown color. It's all still baby hair though, so there's no telling! Her neck is so strong and she likes to stand up a lot. She is ticklish on her tummy and her feet & doesn't like the lights to be on after 11:00pm when she is tired. She likes to takes warmer baths and hates to be naked. She has her favorite pacifier and will tell us when she wants it or when she drops it and needs it back. What a sweet and beautiful blessing she is.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I will try to upload a video of one of our latest 'talks'. :) Hope everyone had a great weekend! :)