Playing Kitchen with Daddy

Robert is a very good dad. He plays with his kids a lot. I can often hear them in the bedroom being football "tackled" by daddy who makes them laugh and giggle and they say all the time "No, DON'T tackle me", with a twinkle in their eye knowing its an invitation that he can't resist. He sings with them, reads to them and plays with them. This time he spent a good hour in the girls room while Lindsey "cooked" for him. Handing him various toys so he could eat her pretend concoctions. She loved every minute of it.

Pictures

I know, right now I am super boring. All I am doing these days is thinking H.O.U.S.E. and hardly much else. I can't blog, I can't sleep and I can hardly pack either until the inspection is done. So just to fill up blog space- because I feel I have just must have my kids on my blog, here are some cute pictures of my girls.

We Got a House!

YAY! So we don't foresee any problems this time. I will show pictures when it is completely signed and closed on. Until then, they have accepted our offer. The house is a little far west from where we wanted originally, but the neighborhood is really nice. The downside is there is no garage, but we can make due. There are 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Fireplace, food storage room, cute fenced in yard. We are super excited to have a house under contract! I can't wait to paint the walls, buy the girls bikes to ride in the bike park down the street, find a swingset for the backyard, etc. I am not dreading moving like you would think. I want to de-clutter my TINY apartment of 4 years and move where there is SPACE! We have all been so tightly compacted for so long I think the girls are going to go quite insane for the first little while with all of the space. Running up and down the stairs, hiding in closets. A blast for them I will say. And I can't wait also to get my hands dirty and put flowers in!! If you can't tell, we are pretty excited about this and it still feels sureal and will feel even more so as the days go by.

Once we close it will feel more like my keys are an attachment to something really COOL!

PMLE and a Baby

I have a sun allergy called Polymorphic light eruption (PMLE). It is irritating and annoying to say the least. Every spring I get bumpy, red and itchy hives. I put sunscreen on and it helps some, but I still get them. After summer my skin goes through a "hardening" and I can handle it. We have spent the last 2 days outside when I noticed that Lindsey was getting red on her face, neck and arms. I thought it must be a plant outside she was allergic too. Then I saw her itching and watched the bumps. Oh, how sad! She has it too. I can try and keep a hat on, but she is 2 and how long will that last. I can sit in the shade, but she runs around like a crazy girl. I guess I will be talking to the doctor about my poor Lindsey. There are oral steroids we COULD try, but I would rather now. I will see what she says on the matter. I just think it is so sad. I hate it myself and now she itched like crazy.

House Hunting Update

We are so happy to say that we have a little more house hunting time. We were given until the end of May to move out. So that gives us time to find a home and time to close and move- we hope. We are looking at all there is out there. We also know that everyone else is now out looking for homes too. We have seen a few houses we like, most of them with multiple offers. The bidding wars start. Apparently Utah has seen a housing increase of 21% in a couple months. I believe it. Even some of my not so favorite areas are seeing mountains of activity. I just keep praying that I can find a home and neighborhood I love to raise my girls in. Your prayers are appreciated. We know something will work out. We are very confident about that.

Oh, Spring How I Love Thee

I have missed warm weather, the sun, the allergies... well maybe not those. I can't help it, Spring is truly one of my most favorite seasons. Yes, I have a sun allergy where I get hives from the UV rays of the sun and it is worse than ever in the Spring. If I cover myself every hour with SPF 50 sunscreen than the hives are lessened, but I still manage to itch a lot. And I have other allergies that plague me, along with my asthma. But I don't care! Robert and I talk about my love for Spring every year and he always insists that Spring is the worst season. It just teases you as you wait for Summer to be here. All of the things that I just mentioned he does his best to remind me that Spring is just not as good as Summer. I always disagree. I deal with all of the not so good things of the season, but I feel SO happy when I see the trees start to bud, the first flowers pop out of the ground and the wonderful warm breezy days. We go see the lights at Temple Square every year during Christmas time and just as important to me is going in the Spring to see the tulips and daffodils.

Today we were out in the beautiful weather. Lindsey insisted on wearing a very Spring yellow flowered skirt, had yellow flower clips in her hair and was just so cute in sandals. Maybe it seems early to be wearing them in 65 degree weather. But it was too beautiful not to dress her in. I wish I had taken some pictures now. I took some with my sister-in-law's camera at her house. I put sunscreen on my kids early in the day, but spaced it later on. Poor Lindsey burned her neck front and back, her cheeks and nose. Oh, it's so sad. Anyway, I just had to mention my happiness at the weather these days. I will be fine if all the rest of March, April and May is like this.

Easier?? When??

Okay, so I know life isn't easy and I know there is a lot that I need to learn, I guess the frustration is boiling a little- or a lot maybe. Our apartment (student housing) won't give us another extension. Two weeks tops and we are now out of the condo. There are a few prospects with housing, but we have 30 days to be out of here. Which means finding another rental somewhere and breaking the lease. Or if we need a couple of weeks we will figure it out then, but the frustration is high right now and time is limited. We are confident and hopeful that something will work out. Prayers are appreciated.

Druggies Ruin Condo

Okay.... so we are very happy that we decided on getting a meth test. And actually Robert's granddad before he got sick and passed away told us in his very gruff voice that is SO him "Make sure you test for meth". We did, especially after finding out from the neighbors that the previous owner is in JAIL for drugs and had druggie friends living there. Nice. In short, the test was positive. Which means we loose money on the inspections, appraisal and a few other things, but we are better off than the seller. I feel really bad for them. They are stuck with the property and have to pay to have it decontaminated. There were just too many issues apparently with the place. What a bomb they made of the place too. The toilet leaked and apparently they never had it fixed so it flooded out the apartment, but they were most likely all too high to notice.

I am very grateful we know this now. It also makes me very sad that there are people that get involved with things like this. It ruins them and it ruins other people too. They become so addicted and so selfish that they think what they do only hurts them. They sell and ruin those who buy and they hurt all who have to clean up after their mess. It is really unfortunate. And not to make light of this, but I have to be grateful for being able to back out of a potentially harmful situation. And I will lighten it up by adding a cartoon.


Now we have to see about extending our stay longer in our apartment so that we can continue the search and pray that we find where we need to move. Your prayers and kind words and thoughts on our behalf have been appreciated. We know something will work out in the end.