T&L's Wedding Weekend-The BIG Day

And seriously..These are only SOME of the 190 pics I took during this weekend..A big ol long update sometime soon..Promise!!

T&L's Wedding Weekend (Part 1, St. Louis & Bentonville)

Seriously?!

The Facts

• DH was WITH me when we bought the ovulation tests (the digital $35 ones)
• DH and I spoken at LENGTH as to when we wanted to strart TTC baby #2..we decided it HAD to be after she was 6 months old, and Dr. J just happened to have an opening in September (her 8th month) and I just happened to be ovulating on my own for the last 2 cycles
• Met.formin does a NUMBER on me, it's hard to take and it takes forever for me to work up to the recommeded dosage..if I needed it, so, I'd love to conceive on our own.
• I'm not getting any younger

The BS

• Yesterday, I got my "smiley face"
• We didn't BD because we were traveling home most of the day and were exhausted when we got here
• I am still "surging" today, indicated by another smiley face
• DH decides, TODAY, that he is NOT READY FOR ANOTHER BABY.
• What.The.F*ck?!
• I've been (almost) silently brooding ALL day, I am so upset
• He says he doesn't want to start trying until E is closer to 1. This would have been good to know when we spent the money on the GD ovulation tests and made the appointment w/Dr. J
• I don't really mind waiting (well, I do a little), but to get my hopes up??? And choose ovulation day to tell me??? I'm just hurt.

I know I need to update on things, but I had to get this out of my system. More later.

SIL Vent

I have a TON to catch everyone up on (yes, we got the house, we close next month, I was w/in breathing distance of the stage collapse w/the girls @ the fair, my baby is almost 7 months old, etc)...But, first, I must vent or my head is going to explode and that will make a mess in my kitchen.


So over 6wks ago, when we found out that my cousin was getting married this weekend, we asked SIL & BIL to watch Allie. They know her, she knows them. They (usually) spoil her rotten and she has no issue staying at their house. Plus, I was going to pay them $50 instead of the $175 it would cost to board her for 4.5 days. Wonderful. Problem solved. Fast forward to 10 days ago, SIL & BIL get a new dog. Fine. It's your pet. No big deal (except that they bitch about money all.the.time. Do they know how much a dog eats? And from that standpoint, if you think you don't have money now, just WAIT until you have a baby..anyway, I digress). So we decide that the dogs need to get together before we leave. SIL cancels our plans last Sunday because "H gets along w/everyone. She is a really sweet dog." Fantastic. Sounds great to me. Also, if I've never told you, Allie is 100% the nicest dog. She has NEVER snapped at anyone or anything, even when playing. Even when she was attacked (and has a hole in her ear to prove it) by a Doberman last week. She just cried and ran off. The only time(s) she has ever been "mean" is when she is in protective mode, which is not very often. So anyway, DH drives to SIL's house w/Allie & all of her gear (she travels like a child, w/a TON of stuff) and when he gets there, the dogs don't get along. Moreso, H snaps & tries to bite Allie. WTF!? Then, SIL lays this little gem on him "well, actually, the reason dad got rid of H is because she DOESN'T GET ALONG W/OTHER DOGS." Are you f*cking kidding me!?!? This is less then 24 hours before we leave. You knew this when you GOT HER. That would have been the time to let us know this, and we would have made other plans. Now, we have no idea what we are going to do. The place we usually board her requires 24 hour notice, and we were planning on leaving tomorrow at 8am. Also, did I mention the $175 price tag!?!?!? I cannot believe she did this. Well, yes I can. I was just hoping she was over this petty bullshit. I'm just so angry. I don't even know what to do. F*CK!!

Homeowners (?)

So I've been kind of keeping this on the down low, until we had more solid information..But DH & I have been looking at renting a home, because this apartment living is for the birds. We do NOT have enough space, and where we are living now is just draining us. Plus the apartment is not sound, and we just need to get out. We have found some homes we LOVE in areas that are close to my work, my parents (who watch Lulu during the week) and E's post..Unfortunately, to RENT they want an arm & a leg.

2 weeks ago, we were discussing this w/my parents over dinner and we lamented on how we wish we had better credit so we could apply for a home loan. Last Sunday, on our way home from the Dunes, my mom & I started looking @ homes in an area just north of their house. I asked why we were looking at houses, since she knows we can't afford one, and she told me she just wanted to see some of the prices. Yesterday, we went looking again and I told her before we left, again, that we can't afford to buy a house, and she stated "what about if your dad & I got the loan and helped you & DH w/the down payment?".......You could have knocked me over w/a feather. I seriously almost passed out. I swayed, and I had to sit down. I didn't think, in my wildest dreams, that she could possibly be serious. My dad conferred, and told us that he wanted us to build equity and be homeowners. Ho-lee-sh*t. I can't believe this is happening.

So we went and looked at homes that my mom & dad had previously picked out that looked like good "started houses" for DH & I..I didn't even know they were doing any of this. And we found 2 that we are in LOVE with. The first one is about 10 minutes from their house, a 3BR/2Ba, fully fenced HUGE yard, open floor plan, all appliances/curtains/blinds stay, ranch. It is $117.9K, but the owners are willing to negotiate the price down plus throwing in closing costs. I got to see it yesterday, the owners let us look around. It.Is.Gorgeous!! It is my favorite. They have taken really good care of it, and it shows. There's enough space to have at least 1 more baby, if not 2. And Allie would be in hog heaven w/her very own yard. I love it. The 2nd home is a foreclosure, which my dad found and had never realized what a steal this houses can be. It is a 4BR/2.5BA 2 story. It will need some work..such as painting. 3 of the 4 bedrooms have absolutely hideous colors (ORANGE, bright turquoise, and BRIGHT purple, plus a CORAL bathroom), the carpet has some stains, but I don't think it will need to be redone, and the rooms are HUMONGOUS. The master bedroom alone is 20x17. Just fantastic. The yard is not fenced, so we'd have to do that, and the yard needs to be landscaped, but we do that as well. We are scheduled to see it tomorrow. It is on a 10-day bid, so we have to offer a bid in the next 8 days. It has over 2500 sqft and is $104K. Seriously. For that much space. The only downside is the stairs. I really struggle w/my 2 bad knees (thinking of that, I think knee surgery for my right knee is in the nearer future then 2 years, it has been AWFUL lately), but for that much space, for that little money, I might have to figure out how to navigate the stairs.

We spent most of this morning looking at homes, and there are some REALLY lovely ones. I can't wait until we have enough money to "upgrade." But none of them compare (to me anyway) to the 2 we've already seen. I'm pretty much sold on the ranch. I just love it. I can see us raising our kids there, having cook-outs, and laying out under the stars, getting a hammock, I've already started decorating it and laying out the furniture in my mind. We have to make a decision in the next week or so, because we have already told our apartment complex that we are not staying, plus the sellers of the ranch are so motivated to sell, if a deal comes along sooner then ours, the home will be gone.

So that is our BIG news as of now. We will (hopefully) be homeowners sometime next month. I will post pics ASAP!!

Catch Up

This weekend was fantastically phenomenal. My mom & I have been wanting to have a "girls weekend" for just about forever...and so this weekend, on a whim, we did it. We had no idea where we were going, my mom just told me "pack some clothes, a swimsuit & the baby stuff and lets go. " So we did. We headed north of Indy and spent Thursday night in Lafayette, Indiana (HUGE shout-out to the Comfort Inn/Suites hotel chain, WONDERFUL!!) Because we left so late (around 7pm) Lulu was COMPLETELY off her schedule and was a basket case most of the night. She finally fell asleep around 1AM(!!!) and slept until 7:30AM, she had a bottle and we all went back to sleep until 9:30AM. Ugh. That was rough. Then we traveled even further north to Porter, IN which is just outside of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I have never been to the Dunes before (mistake, they are lovely!!) and my mom had been telling me how nice the Lake Michigan beaches are. Friday evening we checked into the hotel and then headed to the shore. It was a little later, so not as hot or crowded, and Lulu LOVED it. She dug her feet into the sand and even tolerated the water. She was a fan. And we all slept SO well at night. The next day was rainy & overcast & so HOT, so we headed to the outlet mall, and Grandma spoiled both of us. It was fantastic and we ended up spending the whole day there. We had pizza delivered to our hotel room, and my mom & I stayed up talking (quietly, of course) until about 12AM. Sunday dawned, and we finally made it to the beach. We stayed for about 2 hours, Lu loved sitting in her Bumbo on the shore and letting the waves hit her legs, but she wasn't such a fan of actually going in the water w/mommy. The water was so nice & clear and warm. And we have this little beach tent for Miss Elaina, and she loved laying inside of it & sitting in her Bumbo & playing w/her toys..and even though we were only out for 2 hours, my mom & I got sunburned big time. Ugh. I was so hot/cold today. We got home last night around 8pm, and my parents kept Lulu overnight, and of course,  I couldn't sleep AT ALL last night. Ugh. It was bad news. But the weekend was amazing, such wonderful memories were made. We might just have to make it a tradition to do this a few times a year. And next month, Elaina will get to experience the real beach..the Gulf of Mexico. I can't wait. Here's some pics from the weekend =)

Mommy & Baby at the beach

Best mom/grandma ever!!

Looking cute in her Bumbo

We started sippy cups last week, she's a pro!!

"I'll drive momma"

She wasn't so sure about this

People actually stopped and commented on how cute she was w/her sunglasses =)

Love this pic!!

What happens when she feeds herself =)

Look how big she is getting!!