I've heard stories of other people having challenges with their houses right after moving in so I was somewhat prepared to expect the unexpected...and we have had a few "surprises".
We hadn't even moved in yet and one night strong winds tore off some shingles on the roof.
The garbage disposal and dishwasher didn't work. But...my awesome husband fixed them both without spending any money!
We have a leak under the kitchen sink.
We have some unwanted visitors and had a pest control company come out this week.
Our dryer died this week.
I have reminded myself multiple times that these are all rich people's problems and that has helped to keep these inconveniences from becoming more stressful. I have also tried to remember the truth of John 10:10-"A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and live it more abundantly." The Enemy wants to rob us of the joy that is this gift of a home and we must fight back with God's truth and promise.
With that being said, here is what I love about our new home-
My husband's commute is cut in half, which means he gets home earlier each night.
We have two toilets!
Full size washer and dryer = less time doing laundry.
The munchkin doesn't have half of her room as an office.
A large fenced-in backyard with a basketball hoop.
Our new floors (you may have seen the pics on Facebook).
Being able to paint the walls whatever color we want (again, see Facebook).
Having friends within walking distance.
Our city library is awesome.
Everything we need for running errands is close.
Returning to my former parish and seeing lots of old friends. A classmate of my husband is a priest there!
The neighborhood is quiet.
I'm hoping to write posts as we do improvements. Almost all of the boxes are unpacked and we're about at the point we can hang things on the wall. It's been fun to find things I didn't use at our old house that I wished I had (the garlic mincer is my new favorite kitchen accessory) and reorganize and keep on purging things we don't need. Having a mobile baby has slowed me down but we're making progress.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Ten Months
Looking back I realized I never did a nine months post. We closed on a house the day after she turned nine months so between packing, renovations, moving, and Christmas it didn't happen. Hopefully a post about home improvement soon.
But now the Munchkin is 10 months old. Hard to believe I need to start planning her first birthday party (Hippo theme, in case you were wondering). She is a lot of fun right now. We've gotten into a pretty good routine of naps and sleeping schedule. She typically takes a nap in the morning and afternoon, sometimes a second in the late afternoon. She goes to bed around 9, sleeps until around 4, nurses and then goes back to bed until 7ish. In just the last couple of days she's been regularly standing on her own. She likes to hold her hands in the air to show how proud she is of herself (and she knows we'll praise her every time she does it). She's a fast crawler and pulls herself up on everything. We've got three and a half teeth that she uses to eat everything. I'm not having to puree foods very often anymore because she's such a good eater and likes to feed herself. I've trying to give her water and at this point she prefers drinking from an open cup rather than a sippee cup. Around this time the books say she's supposed to get that separation anxiety but she hasn't had it at this point. Little L is talking more- dada, yaya, mama. When we're eating she says num num.
Things that she loves-
Mirrors! We have lots of them in our new house and she likes to wave at herself.
Eating whatever she can find on the floor. I am sweeping a lot more often now.
Cords. I blame her Papa Alex for introducing these to her over Thanksgiving.
Her Little People nativity set and Noah's Ark from her grandparents.
As I'm unpacking I'm considering what we can and can't have out for her to get into. Would appreciate any tips from experienced parents on babyproofing. We want her to learn what she can and can't touch, especially if she is at other homes that aren't baby friendly but we also want to make our home safe. Any product recommendations?
But now the Munchkin is 10 months old. Hard to believe I need to start planning her first birthday party (Hippo theme, in case you were wondering). She is a lot of fun right now. We've gotten into a pretty good routine of naps and sleeping schedule. She typically takes a nap in the morning and afternoon, sometimes a second in the late afternoon. She goes to bed around 9, sleeps until around 4, nurses and then goes back to bed until 7ish. In just the last couple of days she's been regularly standing on her own. She likes to hold her hands in the air to show how proud she is of herself (and she knows we'll praise her every time she does it). She's a fast crawler and pulls herself up on everything. We've got three and a half teeth that she uses to eat everything. I'm not having to puree foods very often anymore because she's such a good eater and likes to feed herself. I've trying to give her water and at this point she prefers drinking from an open cup rather than a sippee cup. Around this time the books say she's supposed to get that separation anxiety but she hasn't had it at this point. Little L is talking more- dada, yaya, mama. When we're eating she says num num.
Things that she loves-
Mirrors! We have lots of them in our new house and she likes to wave at herself.
Eating whatever she can find on the floor. I am sweeping a lot more often now.
Cords. I blame her Papa Alex for introducing these to her over Thanksgiving.
Her Little People nativity set and Noah's Ark from her grandparents.
As I'm unpacking I'm considering what we can and can't have out for her to get into. Would appreciate any tips from experienced parents on babyproofing. We want her to learn what she can and can't touch, especially if she is at other homes that aren't baby friendly but we also want to make our home safe. Any product recommendations?
Friday, January 4, 2013
Photo freebies
Thought I'd write a quick post about some freebies I've cashed in on this week-
I've always been big on taking and printing pictures, but ever since the Munchkin was born I try to keep up with all the ones we take on our phones and camera. I have accounts with lots of different sites and always take advantage of their deals.
Walgreens uses promo codes online and in their ads every week and sometimes you'll get items for free, no other purchase needed. You can use multiple promo codes for one order. This week I got an email for a free photo book; in this case I did have to pay shipping, $3. I've gotten free photo collages and 5x7 prints before, all I had to do was pick it up in the store.
I get emails from Plum District, it's like Living Social but the deals are recommended by moms. I had a $10 gift card that I used to get some animal wall decals for Little L's room. Then they sent me a promo code for a free photo book from My Publisher. It's a neat software you download to create their projects. Just paid shipping on that.
For both photo books I decided to create them in terms of a storybook that I can read to the baby, with captions to go along with the pictures. I used pictures from our days at the zoo in the fall for one book and pictures from her first Christmas for the other.
I got an email from CVS as well for a free photo mug. My hubby is probably going to take it to work. It's going to be shipped to the store so that didn't cost me anything.
Shutterfly mails me coupons sometimes and I made a free photo book for my grandpa for Christmas since he doesn't have email or text and doesn't see pictures of the baby as often. Just paid shipping. You can combine coupons on their site; I made a photo book of our maternity photos for free earlier this year.
Hope these tips help you save a little!
Hoping to do a post on our new house soon, trying to work on unpacking before I post some pictures!
I've always been big on taking and printing pictures, but ever since the Munchkin was born I try to keep up with all the ones we take on our phones and camera. I have accounts with lots of different sites and always take advantage of their deals.
Walgreens uses promo codes online and in their ads every week and sometimes you'll get items for free, no other purchase needed. You can use multiple promo codes for one order. This week I got an email for a free photo book; in this case I did have to pay shipping, $3. I've gotten free photo collages and 5x7 prints before, all I had to do was pick it up in the store.
I get emails from Plum District, it's like Living Social but the deals are recommended by moms. I had a $10 gift card that I used to get some animal wall decals for Little L's room. Then they sent me a promo code for a free photo book from My Publisher. It's a neat software you download to create their projects. Just paid shipping on that.
For both photo books I decided to create them in terms of a storybook that I can read to the baby, with captions to go along with the pictures. I used pictures from our days at the zoo in the fall for one book and pictures from her first Christmas for the other.
I got an email from CVS as well for a free photo mug. My hubby is probably going to take it to work. It's going to be shipped to the store so that didn't cost me anything.
Shutterfly mails me coupons sometimes and I made a free photo book for my grandpa for Christmas since he doesn't have email or text and doesn't see pictures of the baby as often. Just paid shipping. You can combine coupons on their site; I made a photo book of our maternity photos for free earlier this year.
Hope these tips help you save a little!
Hoping to do a post on our new house soon, trying to work on unpacking before I post some pictures!
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