House Hunt

For my records, and for anyone who cares about details and wasn't receiving the play by play through the whole process.  Thanks to the many people who put up with my constant ramblings about this (Lisa, Jessica, Heather...)

In December of 2011, we decided to try and buy a new house.  Prices were crazy low, so we figured we should take advantage of that.  Little did we know what a challenge it would be to buy a house.  At that point almost every house we saw was a short sale.  We made offers on 6, at or above asking price within 24 hours, before we even had an offer accepted (because there were so many investors with cash).  While we waited for the bank to process that offer, we continued looking at houses and putting in offers with no luck.

Then, our friends/neighbors told us they wanted to short sale their house.  They bought a new house, put their's up for sale, and accepted our offer.  That way we didn't have to play the game of trying to get an offer accepted and they knew their buyer wasn't going to walk.

Our offer on the other short sale was accepted except the bank was requiring the seller to contribute more money.  He didn't want to, and we didn't want to cover the amount either, especially considering we liked our neighbor's house better and the short sale would require some fixing up.  So, we turned down that deal, and that house never sold.

While we waited for our friend's home, we continued looking at other houses, but rarely, if ever, put offers on any, because none compared to the deal we were going to get.  After 4-6 months, the bank denied the short sale, but our friends and their realtor thought they could still get it through.  We started looking more at other homes.

The market was still crazy competitive with cash offers, and we missed out on a lot of houses we like because of that.

While I was in New York, I noticed a house we had looked wanted to see but the listing agent told us it  was going under contract.  It had been over a week and was still listed as Active, so we looked into it.  They said they had several offers, but discussed a price they would accept from us.  Mike went and saw it, fell in love, and after a lot of fancy foot work, and help from my dad, got an offer accepted on that house.  It was an approved short sale, so it should have been a quick close.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  In January, my loan officer told me the title company was getting very different information than we were.  We looked into it, and that day it had been sold at auction!  Without them telling us!  Mike was especially heartbroken over this house, and it only sold for $7000 more than we were going to pay for it (and we had a friend who could have gotten it for us at auction had we known).

The same day, or day before, we found out about that house, I saw a listing for another house that I thought looked great.  We put an offer on it, and amazingly (and with more help from Dad), our offer was accepted!  The seller needed a 30 day close to give their tenants time to move out, so we didn't move super fast.  We had back and forth during our inspection period about financing and repairs and ceiling fans, but it all worked out and we finally got a new house!  Prices had gone up by about 33% since we started looking, but we still paid about half of the price per square foot that we did on our other house.

As we waited to close, I listed our hold home for sale for about 2 weeks on Zillow, but the market was just not up to where we needed it to be, so I listed it for rent.  I interviewed tenants and found some that we were happy with.

Then, Benton went into the hospital.  From the hospital, I finalized the contract with the tenants (thanks Lisa for helping me finish checking references).  Our closing on the house got delayed by like 2 days because of missing paperwork, etc., but we didn't want to delay too much because we had the ward set to move us and our tenants needed to move in ASAP.  So, the title company sent someone to the hospital, and that is where we signed on the house.  My friends had finished packing my house, the ward moved us on Saturday, more friends helped me clean the old house, a sweet girl from the ward came over and watched Benton so I could unpack without worrying about him getting into more mischief (like knocking a door over on his stitched up head), our renters moved in a week after we moved out, and we started a new chapter!

Here are pictures from shortly after we moved in (things are better arranged and decorated now).

Backyard (our toys are arranged better now and we have artificial grass.  We had this fence put in the day before we moved in.

 Guest room/Office.  Our friends from church not only moved our stuff, but they got all of our furniture and appliances assembled!  It was amazing!  Between taking care of all of Benton's meds, and having to take him to the ER on moving day twice (door fell on him and IV clogged), this was a great blessing.

 Hall to guest room at the end, nursery next to that, and bathroom  (on the left by cabinets).

 Entryway.

 Great room.

 I love love love having the big flat island, especially since our kitchen chairs fit at it.  That is where we do most of our eating.

 Basement bathroom.

 This is a formal dining room by the front door, but we will not use it for that.  This next year it will be a preschool room, and someday I hope it will be a piano/sitting room.

 Basement bedroom.

 That's right, I said basement!  If you don't live in AZ, you may not realize that this is a very hard to come by feature where I live.  We LOVE the basement.  It is cooler, and it gives us a separate play area.  Quiet!  Sanity!  Toys (pretty much) banned from our living area!

 Mountain of unpacked boxes.

 Upstairs bathroom.

 This is after we had started unpacking, but we had a huge mountain in the great room.

 Mike epoxied the garage floor two days after we moved in.  All of the garage stuff was in the side yard.  It was perfect timing because we had a 3 day weekend, and Tuesday morning it rained (he got the shelves put up and everything in before the rain).

And, just for fun, here's the old house:

Tricks

Ethan has been building his confidence back up one step at a time, and today he finally swam the length of the pool again!  Swim lessons start Monday, so I hope we don't deal with anxiety this year.

I've been teaching Benton some new tricks.

Here's a blooper.

Second Chance

It has been almost 3 years since trains became a HUGE part of my life. As Ethan's obsession has faded slightly and Benton has started falling in love with all of Ethan's tracks, I have started liking trains a little better than I have in a long time (years without a break wore me out). A basement + trains and tracks they both love = long periods of happy playing!

Benton also really likes cars and race tracks and Ethan has gotten into super heroes lately.. Add in a pool and reading (which they both really like), and I'm rested from trains enough to give them a second chance!
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Chocolate Touch

Ethan and I finished reading our second chapter book together: The Chocolate Touch. In this book the main character has a magic "spell" that makes everything that touches his mouth turn to chocolate. For our after reading activity we had chocolate fondue with strawberries, pretzels, coconut marshmallows, rice krispie treats, and bananas. Terrible picture, but you get the idea.
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Reading

Benton has gotten very into books lately, and always wants to sit on us. If our lap is available great, but he's happy to sit on a head/shoulder/stomach is we're laying down and that is what is available.
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Teachable Moment

We had our first incident of childhood theft today.  We got home from Pump It Up, an inflatable play place, and Ethan showed me an air hockey puck he had stowed in his pocket.  He admitted that he knew he had it when we left.  So, we talked about how that was stealing.  After his nap he wrote a letter of apology (I didn't take a picture, but it said "Dear Pump It Up, Sorry for taking your puck.  Sincerely, Ethan") and then we drove the half an hour back and he went in to return it.  The employees thought it was very cute that he was saying sorry and brought a note, and after a few seconds caught on to what we were doing and thanked him for being honest and returning it and gave him a stamp on his hand.  I also taught Ethan about repentance and how he needed to feel sorry, make it right as much as he could, and then pray for forgiveness.  He's tells about the experience saying that he stole and he had to pray about it.

I'm glad the experience seems to have been serious, but positive too.  I'm also glad that Costco is right next to Pump It Up so we could make the trip productive and not an hour worth of driving just for a hockey puck (although hopefully the lesson on honesty will stick with him enough to make the trip worth it too).

Decorating

We still haven't gotten all of our old decorations hung, but here you can see the cool new mirrors Mike found online for above our cabinets and the 9 opening picture frame that goes well with them (a freebie from a friend). The frame has pictures of each of our siblings' families.
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Thirsty

Benton is as thirsty as he is hungry, and from about his first birthday, he wants water more than milk.

A little peek into his personality: the only thing he requires in bed now is his water. If his cup is empty, he will lay in the crib and wait patiently while I take it and fill it. Tonight, after about 3 hours of sleep, he was fussing for a few minutes (very uncommon). I went in and he was standing up signing milk and saying "wawa". I asked if he needed more water and he laughed and flopped to his bed. He laid on his tummy until I came back with his water, which he promptly hugged. I started to stroke his face and say good night and he waved and said, "buh bye!".

He is cracking me up lately with the way he says "buh bye" when he is done with us, how he says "ouch" anytime he bumps or hurts himself, and how he is starting to say "poop" when he has a dirty diaper.
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Words to Live By

We decided this quote by President Thomas S. Monson would be a good "motto" for our family, so we ventured into the world of vinyl. I'm happy with how it turned out, but my goodness, was it a pain to put up!
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Yum!

Benton still eats a lot! When we have pizza, he'll eat 2-3 pieces. This morning he had a bowl of steel cut oats and a bowl of wheat chex. 3 hours later he asked for food and ate 9 chicken nuggets, 1.5 mandarin oranges, and a bowl of corn.

He INSISTS on feeding himself. Sometimes if I do something funny like sing the Jaws theme, he'll let me feed him. Lately he has been doing the Jaws theme on his own as he feeds himself.

As you can see in this picture, today he learned to eat out of his bowl without hands.
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Trains!

Benton is less then a month younger than Ethan was when he became obsessed with trains-hard to believe! The boys' babysitter built them a cool track on Saturday and Benton is really enjoying it.

In other news, when Ethan's gymnastics class ended up with two Ethan's, his teacher asked if he wanted to go by another name. Can you guess what Ethan chose? "My name is Thomas and in a few days it will be James.". He always says that, but never changes to James. He is serious enough that when we are at a park or store and someone asks his name, he says, "Thomas Michael Abegg.". We were on our way home from his best buddy's house last week and he said, "I wish I could stay with Sarah forever because then I could always be with Trent. Then my name would be Thomas Sandhaus.". Apparently, he is moving on with life. Silly boy!
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Staying Cool

We have entered the "staying cool" part of the year, with triple digit temps. Benton is enjoying his water table on the shaded porch. We are swimming regularly, even if it is just a quick dip to cool off before bed or before braving the extra heat associated with cooking dinner. ;)
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Anniversaries

Mike and I both had annual reviews today. This was his first with the city, which means he passed the probationary period. Yay!

I just reached my fifth anniversary with Comtrans. We are very fortunate to both have secure jobs that we like and that fit our (young) family centered life style. Lots to be grateful for!
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New Hobby

A few weeks ago I was released from serving as the Primary President after over 3 years in that position.  I was ready to move on, especially after a few weeks of being very "understaffed" with teachers not showing or positions left vacant (which was a common theme over the three years, but I guess I was more burned out at this point).  My main hesitation in being released was where I would be called next.  Fortunately, I got the calling I was hoping for: Primary Chorister!

I now get the funnest part of Primary (singing and playing games with the kids) and none of the stress of leading the organization.  Chorister is becoming a hobby on my list, one of those black holes where all of the sudden I've spent entirely too much time researching, brainstorming, preparing because I'm enjoying it.  I will still be in Prescott on Sunday (race on Saturday) and am really sad to be missing church and the fun of singing time.  Hopefully they don't pull me out of this calling anytime soon!

New Games

Ethan is acquiring other interests in his play (after almost 3 years of pretty much just trains). Here he is calling the Super Friends on his orange. He is getting very into super heroes. When we went to the library, he only got super hero books, and he was very excited to get new super hero underwear. I have to say, I'm excited for the diversity!
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Indoctrinated from Birth

Benton loves cars and race tracks, but of course learned young to drive trains!
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Let the Summer Begin!

Today was forecast to be our first triple digit day.  I'm not sure if it hit the mark or not, but it was a great day to throw our first BBQ/swim party.  We have had people over for Easter and conference, but this was our chance to break in the backyard with friends.

The water is still a little chilly, but on a hot day, it is worth it.  The kids seemed pretty immune to it and had a great time.  Ethan, apparently, was motivated by the older kids swimming and finally started swimming again!  He's been too nervous so far this year and I didn't push it with the cold water.  We've practiced floating as his basic safety skill, but today he was putting his face in and swimming (only in the shallow end).  Hopefully he'll get comfortable enough that there won't be any crying days in swim lessons.

I had told Ethan while he was freaking out about me making him float earlier this week that when he decided to do "swim lessons" with me and swim HAPPILY, we could go to Scooptacular.  So, as soon as he conquered his apprehension and swam today, he got my attention, showed me, and asked if we could go get ice cream.  Our day ended with a trip to Scooptacular.

Hopefully there will be many more friends in our pool before the summer is through!

Brothers

It's fun as Benton is getting older that they are playing more together and I take care of them in pretty much the same way (no separate meals, bags, activities, naps, etc.).
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Grocery Shopping

Sure, shopping would be calmer and faster without them, but who would I play peekaboo with?
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Warming Up

It gets chilly swimming in the shade, so Benton took a break to warm up.
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Reminders

We finally got Benton's haircut this week. I keep forgetting to take pictures, but with his new short hair, his scars are showcased quite a bit. They are good reminders to (1) put vitamin e on, and, (2) be grateful we have our adorable little guy!

If you look closely you can see a white spot near the front scar and on his cheek.  Those are chickenpox scars.
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Dinner

Eating and enjoying dinner that they "helped" make. We are having spinach and artichoke pasta and both are enjoying it-phew! I needed a peaceful dinner after a not so peaceful start to the day. They both also played independently and happily for an extended period of time this afternoon. Tender mercies!
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Clogged

When Mike took Ethan down to put him to bed tonight, we discovered that the basement toilet is barely draining.  I knew Ethan had "run out of toilet paper" earlier, so we quickly got to the root of the problem: toilet paper.  It has turned into an entertaining event (although we're trying our best not to make it fun for Ethan).

Mike suggested that Ethan put his arm in there to unclog it.  As we kept straight faces and made Ethan think that was a possibility, he started getting very upset, almost crying, because he didn't want to get his arm yucky.

I started researching what methods to try to unclog it.  One of them was to pour a bucket of water in. I thought it seemed odd, but Mike immediately went and got a bucket.  I started relaying the form and instructions and Mike said, "I know; this is how we flushed toilets in Mexico."  Amazing the experiences he had down there.

Unfortunately, the water didn't work. So, Ethan got to watch what happens when baking soda and vinegar are mixed, because putting both in the toilet was another suggestion.  At the moment, that mixture is sitting in the toilet and Ethan is going to bed, and not coming out on threat of having to put his arm down the toilet.

Family Collage

At the last house I started a family picture collage. The idea being, if I use black frames, it will be easy to add to. Yesterday, I finally got it up in the new house, so here's the new arrangement. It is in the hallway with Benton's room, our guest bathroom, and guest bedroom/office.  I think it looks better in person, and straight on instead of from the end of the hall like in this picutre.

A few frames are empty and the only sibling family picture I have is an outdated one of Lisa's family...at some point I'll get more pictures printed. And Lisa and Joe or Lauren, if you have a file handy to send me of your family picture, you can make the wall (again)!
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Helping Dad

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Running Buddies

Heavy, but cute, stroller to push as I train for the Whiskey Row Half Marathon on May 4.
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