Offer update

So after much thought and research we decided to up our offer by $25,000. We still feel like this house is a great deal, even at the higher price.

So our agent updated the offer and our bank upped the amount on the pre-approval letter and the offer was faxed over yesterday afternoon.

So now it is just a waiting game. Hopefully we will know soon. I hate not knowing.

If it is meant to be it will happen, if not, there is something else better for us out there.

Housing.....why do we need it anyway?

So since my last post about the housing situation more has happened.

The following Monday our landlord called and wanted to talk about selling the house we are renting to us. It is a great house. And we have talked to him in the past about the price he would be willing to take for it. But it was always higher than we really thought it was worth in the current market. He has been dumbfounded about how low the prices in the neighborhood have dropped. So he found out some information that is part of one of the real estate recovery programs the government is trying to introduce. The one he is trying to do would pretty much make up any loss he has had on the house since he had to move on orders in 2007.

Our real estate agent, who also happens to be his agent, does not think the package will apply to him. His rank is quite high and he makes a lot more money than most military people. And these packages are designed to be VERY hard to qualify for. So she thinks he will either have to do a short sale or find someone else to rent after we move.

So as the government finalizes the rules, they should be out mid-April we decided to keep looking. And if we found something fabulous we would move on it no matter if the landlord sale thing would work out or not.

So I went out again to a house that I had tried to look at before. The day before we were to go to Great Wolf Lodge we went to see this house. (it is house number 1 ) At that time we couldn't get in to see it. There was no lock box on the door. So my agent called the listing agent, and only got the office and was told a variety of lies about why there was no key on the house. So she ended up threatening to report them because to have a house listed on MLS without a lock box is a $1000 fine. So the listing agent promptly took it off the market.
We went on vacation and came back and decided to keep looking. Our agent sent us a bunch of new listings to look at, and the same house was there but for $40,000 less than when I tried to go and see it before. SCORE!!
So we went to see it, and it is great!! It really fits our family's needs. 5 great size bedrooms upstairs. Fully finished basement, three car garage, great storage and more. It is not super fancy inside, I think the poor people who originally built it spent all their money getting the size, with all the bump-outs and additional rooms, that they did not have enough to finish it really nice inside. But the finishing touches are easy to do and will not cost that much.
So we put in an offer! That next day we submitted an offer for 12oo over list with extra so we could ask for closing costs. Essentially we offered 14000 more so we could get the 14000 back for closing costs.

So today, we get a call. There are multiple offers on the table. Give us your best and highest by 11PM. So now we have this huge dilemma. What the heck to we offer. We have no clue what anyone else has offered. We don't even know how many other offers there are. The bank said specifically that they will take no escalation clauses. So that really sucks! (an escalation clause says, "we will beat your highest offer by x amount") So we wouldn't have to pay more than absolutely necessary. But they won't do that. They want absolutely as much for the property as they can get.
So we are just sick. We really, really want this house. But don't' want to pay much more than we originally offered. We could just say, our original offer was our "best and highest" and just see how things go. But I think if we do that, we will lose it! ARGH!!!
The comps in the neighborhood are all over the place. And the tax assessment is for $140,000 more than we offered. So there is lots of up potential.
Man, I don't know what to do!!
I need to talk more to Rob, right now he just wants to say, our first offer is the highest, but then there is no taking it back, no second chances! I don't know what to do!!

Happy Birthday Alana!!

Sweet Alana Nicole turned five years old today.
She had a wonderful day. She had a little party this afternoon, with some friends from church and the neighborhood. It was really fun!

Five years ago Rob was traveling with his job quite extensively. He had been in Guam for about 6 weeks followed closely by Spain for a month. He was so nervous he was going to miss the birth. I was doing fine. I was not really that nervous. I was the Primary president and Avalon was only 16 months old, so I had plenty to keep me busy.
We picked up Rob about 4:00PM on the 27th. He was dead tired after traveling for about 14 hours on a plane. So we headed home and went bed before 7:00PM (hey, I was just about to have a baby, I was tired too.)
The next morning I woke up to contractions. They were not really powerful, yet. I was even debating whether or not we should go to church. I woke up Rob and he got showered and ate breakfast and I rushed around packing a bag and making phone calls.
We had a young boy we picked up each Sunday, had to arrange another ride for him, and let my councilors know I would not be there, as well as let our friends know who were taking care of Avalon for us.

Then we headed off to the hospital. We arrived there about 9:00AM, and by that time, there was no doubt I was going to have a baby, and soon. They got us checked in and into our room. The doctor arrived soon thereafter and stayed through the remainder of the labor. She was terrific. I had no pain medication at all, and was really scared. It was going really fast and hard. Rob was the best coach ever. Even after the birth the Doctor and the Nurses all complimented him and told him what a great job he did. He was so dead tired from his long journey the day before, but was so excited for his new baby girl.
Alana was such a sweet wonderful baby. So quiet and so easy. She slept well from the very beginning and was so good natured!
We are so grateful to have her in our life!
We love you!

Announcing.......

Avalon got in!!!!!!
We received the letter from the Charter school today. I came home from a long morning out. Target, Doctor's office and back to Target for prescriptions. I came home and got the mail before pulling into the garage. There was the envelope. It was thick. Always a good sign. Thick envelopes mean more papers to sign and more information. Thin envelopes, one page to say, you are wait list number 3458.
Avalon's was thick, and my stomach jumped to my throat, "she got in" I thought!! I ran inside and called to Avalon, to come upstairs so we could open it together.
Congratulations!! We screamed and hugged and jumped around. We are thrilled!
Avalon just kept saying, "They said yes!!"
Now, she is a little sad that September is so far away.

SWEET!

Major catch up......again!

Man, I pretty much suck at this blogging thing! Life just gets too busy! We still have tons going on, and I am feeling really stressed lately, even with working my butt off at the gym lately. The workouts help relieve my stress, but added stress makes me eat like a pig, so thankfully I am not gaining, but not really losing either! I really need some things in my life to settle and normalize a little bit again. I have been feeling out of control lately, and those who know me well, know that out of control is not a phrase that describes me!!! ;-)

We are still looking for a house. We are being really picky. We have seen tons of really nice houses that we could easily afford, but we are holding out for everything we want. Hopefully we will find it soon.
We had decided that we were going to go ahead and build the Davenport with Brookfield. They are a great builder and we felt like we were getting a good house for the money and the incentives were incredible. So we went in to sign a contract and get things rolling. To make a REALLY long story short, we were in the office for 5 hours and still did not have signed papers, so we took the blank contract home to read over and sign and return. Two nights later our renters from our house in Mass called to let us know that he had lost his job and that they were giving their 30 day notice. So then it all made sense why Heavenly Father created so many road blocks and circumstances that kept us from moving forward on the house like we had originally planned. If we had gone forward when we had first planned we would not have been able to back out of the deal, and we would have been super stressed financially paying for both homes.
So now we are keeping more realistic expectations and are only looking for homes that the mortgage will be about the same that we are paying in rent. Because we know that we can afford both homes with no issues. It is definitely the wiser course of action.

We went last week and spent a night at Great Wolf Lodge with some good friends of ours. Our friend is a Doctor and in the Navy and is being deployed at the end of the month. So we wanted to go and let the kids and us have some fun together before he heads overseas and we move away. We had a GREAT time!! This was our second trip down in the last few months and it was even better this time. We knew better what to expect and pack, and the kids had a great time!
Adam did SO much better this time as well. Last time he pretty much stayed in the kids pool and only did the slide once and was pretty nervous to venture far. But this time he did GREAT!!! He did the slides over and over and played all over the big climbing structure. Even with all the sprayers and geysers he did fine! He is making so much progress lately, I am so proud of him!
Our friend loved it too. We are so glad we did it!

I went to see the developmental pediatrician today for the "results" portion of our visit after she evaluated Adam. She does feel that he is on the Autism Spectrum. She mentioned several strengths that she saw as well as a few weaknesses. She suggested that in addition to his preschool classes that I start him in private speech and occupational therapy.
Overall it was a good informative meeting. She gave me a list of books and websites to look into and a list of doctors and therapists to work with as well.
We will go back in for a follow up in a few months after the start of a new school year when he will have been in speech and OT for several months and will have started his preschool classes four days a week.
She feels that he is very high functioning and has lots of potential. Hopefully we can get him all the help he needs. I feel very blessed to live in an area that has so many resources available to us.
Well, I am tired and think I will sign off for tonight, and go and waste some time watching TV.
See you!

Hey, all you guys out there, leave me a comment if you are reading. I had site meter, but it is not registering any visits, ever! According to the stupid thing, no one has ever been to my blog to read it in any way..... so if you are out there, give me a quick hello!!

Adam Update

Well we had our meeting with the Child Find evaluators today.
And to make a long story pretty short, they have approved services for him.
For his age range they look for delays in five categories. Physical development, Cognitive development, Communication Development, Social/Emotional Development and Adaptive development. He was delayed in three of the five (you only have to be delayed in one to qualify for the services.) The two he is adequate in are physical and adaptive.
From here we meet again next week to work out an IEP (individualized education plan) And that will state where he is now and where and how he needs to progress in the next 6 months or so.

It feels good to finally have things really moving forward. I am going to send all of the paperwork and reports to the developmental pediatrician too. Hopefully all of us working together can help my sweet little man have a more normal life.

Ch-ch-cha-cha-changes.......

I am sorry I have not been posting much lately. We have had so many things going on, and so many things I am thinking about that it seems like all of my time has been spent lately contemplating, thinking, stewing and otherwise lost in thought. I have been having trouble getting to sleep, only to wake up around 3:30AM to start my day full of thoughts and what ifs.

We are going to me moving this summer. Our lease is up at the end of July and beside that, we feel like with the market conditions, now is the best time for us to buy. The rates are at 50 year lows, the builders are doing so many things as "standards" that were expensive upgrades a few years ago not to mention the prices being down to about what they were here 5 years ago.
So here comes the non-stop thinking part. Do we look around and try to find a house that has everything we want, in a good location, that we can afford? Do we go for a smaller house that may be more affordable even if we don't absolutely love it? Do we just go for it and build new and get everything we want for a good price?
There have been so many different options that I think, there is too much to think about!!
If we decide to build, which I think we are leaning toward...... Now which house do we build, which lot do we pick. Do we want to face west, or does the rear of the house where the solar panels would hide, be better facing west. Even though the other lot backs to trees?
How much do we really, I mean really want to spend on a house payment? The bigger, nicer house might be a little tight for now, but probably won't be in a couple of years. Is it better to just stick it out for now, or do something that really won't stretch us, but it is a house we don't LOVE. ----AAAH!! Who knows!!! That is only one of the reasons I sit and think and think and think and think.............

We have been busy this last week with appointments for Adam. He saw a developmental pediatrician this last Wednesday. I went alone on Tuesday to meet with her and give her the history and express all of my concerns. Then Adam and I went together on Wednesday for his evaluation. Then the doctor complies all of her notes and findings and I go and meet with her in the next month for her recommendations for where we go from here. She did not really express to many of her thoughts while we were there, she just pretty much took notes while Adam and I played and interacted. She made a few suggestions as to what she would like us to work with, so she could see some specific things. She wanted to watch him work on a few puzzles, and see me read a few books to him. She also had several toys out that he could just freely go to and play. She was watching how long his attention span is, see what his frustration level was with more complex tasks. Some of it was to see how creative he is and to listen to him talk.
She did notice that when he presses on something with a flat hand, that his fingers bend backward slightly. She says that it is a sign of low muscle tone and that is a factor in this motor skills, his clumsiness, and balance. She says it could very well be a contributing factor in his facial and jaw muscles and his ability to speak. Very interesting. She says that he is definitely smart and very creative. She also payed me a very nice compliment. She said that the way I play and interact with him naturally, is the way they try to teach other parents to interact with their kids. She said that she would like to video tape me, (to show to other parents) because the way I play with him helps to encourage his language and cognitive skills. And I was doing so many things that most people need to be taught. That made me feel much better, because for the most part I feel like a pretty crappy mom. It is so hard to deal with this and try to help other people deal with Adam more effectively when I feel like I don't know how to help either.

The previous Friday we had Adam to his Speech Evaluation. He did very well listening and following directions. I was so proud of him. She said that he definitely has severe communication delays, but that his understanding seems to be quite high. So that is good.
He even let this lady put the ear phones on his head to check his hearing. I was amazed!! He is usually so sensitive about his hearing and ears. She spent lots of time with him and was able to switch to another way to do the same test if she was trying something he didn't want to do. She was very flexible and so sweet to Adam. I really feel like just in the past couple of weeks he had been making progress. I think that the new diet is definitely making a difference. He has been making drastic improvement at Preschool also. He has been also having fewer tantrums at home. I am going to keep up with the Gluten Free/ Casein Free diet, I think we are seeing results! He has his hearing with the ChildFind school district representatives this coming Thursday. That is when they will determine if he qualifies for services and which ones. I am pretty confident he will qualify, just from what the ladies who have been doing the evaluations have been saying.---Dr Powell, the developmental ped.--said she thinks from what she has read from their reports that they will approve services. So I will have to let you know.

The other dilemma that came into my life is the possibility of a new job for Rob. I can't say much about it, but it made me do a lot of pondering about our family situations and the future.
This will be one we have to think and pray about extensively!!

We should be hearing from the Charter school about Avalon's application by the first week of April, and I cannot wait!! I hope so much that she got in. I think it will work so well for our family, now and in the future. So I have been considering my options of what I will need to do if she does not get in, and what to do for Alana either way. So my poor mommy brain is crammed full lately.